Sometimes You Need More Than Courage
by xSlythStratasfaction
Summary: After having another one of his terrible recurring nightmares, Kurt is consoled by Blaine. It is during this consolation that Kurt realizes that he really knows absolutely nothing about Mr. Blaine Anderson. So, what's the backstory behind this dreamboat?
1. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Glee, nor am I associated with it or Ryan Murphy. I am just an out-of-college daydreamer who sometimes gets into these writing funks and ends up tossing out a story after letting the idea sit in my brain for a few days!

**Sometimes You Need More Than Courage**

By: xSlythStratasfaction

Characters: mostly Kurt and Blaine (w/ mentions of OCs, Warblers, and New Directions)

A/N: I decided to write this after having nothing but Klaine stuck in my mind for a week. I tried to go back and rewatch a lot of the scenes the two of them had together and then I started wondering about the mysterious Blaine and his past. That's when I thought of perhaps writing something about him (I'm pretty sure many others have done this as well; I haven't gotten around to reading many Klaine fics, so if this idea has been overdone, I apologize!). Anyways, Blaine's story will be a mix of stuff that I've seen a few of my own gay/lesbian friends go through. This story is dedicated to those friends. I hardly see or hear from any of them very much anymore, but I still think of them!

WARNING: Possible triggers (in an implied dream sequence)!

* * *

><p>"…Blaine?"<p>

_There was that voice again! _Creeping up on him in the darkness, interrupting what was going to be an AMAZING dream.

Wait, was this a dream?

He wasn't just dreaming that he and some mysterious boy were kissing underneath the starlit sky; their bodies melded together as a cold breeze blew through their hair. This had to be real, not something his unconscious mind had thrown together for him. Everything felt real: the low whisper of his name from the boy's smooth lips, the hands grasping his shoulders firmly, the cool wind blowing in his face. _It had to be real. It just had to be._

"Blaine. Can you hear me?"

The voice got a bit louder, but it still in whispering stage. The shadow he was currently curled up against moved his mouth slowly against Blaine's ear, "You need to wake up, Blaine. Wake up!"

"Blaine," the whisper grew even louder and more serious. "Get up!"

Suddenly the mystery boy's fingers curled into his shoulders, pressure bore down upon him and pain entered his body. It was enough to jerk him awake and his hazel eyes shot open quickly.

Immediately he realized that he was indeed dreaming and that the dream boy was just a figment of his imagination. The actual person standing over him, gripping his shoulders so roughly, was David. The older Warbler seemed distressed as he stood over Blaine, his eyes showing concern.

"You've gotta come to the back of the bus with me. There's something wrong."

Blaine blinked some of the sleep out of his eyes and rubbed his eyelids with his palms. "Why? What's going on?" He turned to look back up at David and noticed that the older boy had disappeared from where he had been previously standing. "David?"

He quickly stood up and clonked his head on the bus' air conditioning control panel. _So that's where the cool winds came from… _The inside of the charter bus itself was dark, with only the dim lights of the walkway lit up just in case of an emergency. Rubbing his sleepy eyes once more, Blaine scanned the back of the bus and finally spotted David. He was standing over one of the other seats; Wes was also there. One of the small reading lights located in the control panel was clicked on over that very seat and for some odd reason, Wes kept on leaning down and shaking something.

Blaine squeezed out of his seat and stumbled down the aisle towards Wes and David, instantly curious as to what they were doing. It wasn't until he got a few steps away from the seat they were hovering over that he remembered who was sitting in that seat earlier.

It was Kurt.

Picking up the pace, Blaine bumped into David and leaned down beside Wes to see what was going on. There, sitting curled up in the fetal position, was Kurt. He was sickly pale and sweaty and his usually pink lips were pursed together into a thin white line. His well kept coif was also damp with sweat and it stuck up into wet cowlicks. He looked distraught.

"What's wrong with him?" Blaine blurted out, his voice loud with concern.

Wes turned towards the younger boy and shook his head. "We don't know. David came back here to get some tissue to blow his nose and that's when he noticed Kurt like this. We think he's having a nightmare or something. He keeps on mumbling and crying out. We just can't wake him up though. We tried everything… well, except you. You can probably wake up him, I think. You guys are really close and-"

Wes didn't have a chance to finish what he was saying. Blaine had already pushed past him and knelt down into the seat next to Kurt. He brought one of his hands up towards Kurt's flushed cheek and brushed some of his sweaty hair away from his forehead.

"Kurt? Wake up. Kurt, please? Wake up for me. You're having a nightmare."

Kurt's long body curled more into the cushy seat and he whimpered. His head jerked from side to side and one of his feet kicked out, bumping into Blaine's knee. "Nuh-"

"What did he say?" Another one of the Warbler upperclassmen, Thad, popped up from behind David. He also looked concerned.

"Nuh-no," Kurt's breath was ragged. "Nuh-no."

Blaine reached down and grabbed Kurt's forearms. He squeezed them gently, all the while, his eyes stayed focused on Kurt's face, "Kurt? Can you hear me? Get up." _I should've stayed back here with him. Why did I go up front and sit with Jeff? I knew he wasn't feeling well…_

Earlier that evening, following some performances at a couple of nursing homes in Dayton, the Warblers boarded the charter bus back to Dalton Academy. Blaine had taken a seat with Kurt near the back and Kurt had mentioned that he was feeling rather exhausted, so he was going to close his eyes for a bit. Once Kurt had dozed off, Jeff called Blaine to come up to the front because he had something to show him. Blaine had cautiously moved out of his seat, careful not to wake the sleeping brunette that had been curled up next to him, and he left to see what in the world Jeff wanted.

In between that initial hour gap from leaving Kurt asleep in his seat and going up to the front of the bus to talk to Jeff, Blaine must've fallen asleep himself. Then Kurt started to have a nightmare and David, who had been sitting in the row across from him, noticed him as he got up to go to the bathroom. David, scared that something was wrong, in turn asked Wes to help him shake Kurt awake, but that didn't work, so they came to Blaine.

_I should've came back to see if he was okay. I knew he wasn't feeling well…_

Once again, Blaine brought his hands up to Kurt's damp face and cupped his cheeks, "Kurt! You're having a nightmare. Wake up." He spoke a little louder, "Kurt."

Slowly but surely, following hearing his name the second time, Kurt's light blue eyes slowly opened. He blinked a few times, trying to take everything in. Once most of his vision straightened up and everything focused, he noticed Blaine sitting across from him with Wes, David, and Thad standing overlooking him with curiousity. Plus, Blaine's warm hands were on his face _and_ he was trembling.

"What happened?" Kurt asked quickly. His voice sounded small, so tired and weak.

"You were having a nightmare. Are you okay?" Wes leaned down over Blaine's shoulder and stared at the younger teen before him. "You had us all worried. You wouldn't get up."

Blaine's hands slowly moved up Kurt's face and he started to brush the wet strands back out of Kurt's eyes. He repeated Wes' question, "Are you okay?"

Kurt bit his lip for a second as his mind flashed with the memory of the nightmare he had just observed, "I… I don't know." In his dream, Karofsky had followed him to Dalton Academy, snuck inside, and had caught him in the stairwells. The hulking bully had him in a dark corner within seconds, slamming him into a wall as he began to tear at Kurt's Dalton uniform, angrily mumbling about the difficulty of the jacket's buttons. No matter how much struggling Kurt did against the much stronger jock, he couldn't get away. He screamed for Blaine, he screamed for anyone for that matter, and no one came. The last thing he remembered from the dream was one of Karofsky's large hands covering his mouth as the other started to snake into his pants. All he could get out of his mouth was, "No. No no no."

_He's still shaking. Oh Kurt…_

Blaine noticed his friend's eyes start to well up and he pulled the trembling boy into his chest, enveloping him in his arms. "Shhh," he comforted, whispering quietly into Kurt's hair. "I'm here now. Everything's gonna be okay."

Kurt whimpered a bit into Blaine's jacket, his hands balled up into Blaine's lapels. "I couldn't get away from him, Blaine," he cried softly. "I couldn't stop him."

Wes and David exchanged concerned looks, but said nothing. Thad watched closely as Blaine ran his hands up and down Kurt's back and into his hair.

"We're here if you need anything, Kurt." Wes leaned down, placed a hand on Kurt's shoulder, and gave the boy's shoulder a reassuring squeeze. Then he turned to the other Warblers who hovered behind him and gave them a knowing look. "I think Blaine's got this, guys," he whispered before turning and climbing into his seat.

The others nodded and went back to their respective seats as well, leaving Kurt and Blaine curled up in their seat, consoling one another.

* * *

><p>The bus came to a slow, creeping stop in the vast Dalton Academy parking lot. The usually crowded student parking area only had a few dozen cars scattered within it and from his view, Blaine could see Kurt's black SUV. He sighed, knowing that Kurt was supposed to drive home to Lima after they got back to Dalton, but based on how the fragile boy was still trembling in his arms, Blaine didn't think him driving home at the moment was such a good idea.<p>

_What should I do?_

Blaine stayed lost in his thoughts while the rest of the Warblers stood up from their seats and stretched, tired from singing and dancing and from the almost two hour drive from Dayton. Blaine could see Wes squeezing past David to head up to the front of the bus. Before he walked completely past Blaine and Kurt, he peeked over Blaine's shoulder to see how Kurt was doing. Then he walked up to the front of the bus and grabbed the bus driver's microphone.

"Attention Warblers. Thank you for a great performance tonight. Both Wishing Well and the Windy Plains nursing homes' residents enjoyed the evening and I hope you all did too. Have a good evening and remember, the next Warbler practice is on Monday at five. Be there."

He then handed the mic back to the bus driver and started to go back to his seat. Before he could head away, David ran up to the front of the bus and grabbed the intercom mic back up. "If you guys don't mind, we're going to let Blaine and Kurt get off of the bus first, so could you guys just stand back until they exit, please? Thank you."

David then nodded to Blaine. The younger Warbler nodded and stood up slowly, helping Kurt to his feet. Kurt, still pallid and trembling, looked rather embarrassed at the fact that everyone was now staring at him. Blaine ignored the stares and took Kurt's shaking hand into his own, helping Kurt out of the seat. Slowly, he led him down the bus aisle to the open doors.

As they walked away from the bus and towards Kurt's car, Blaine let his fingertips rest on the small of Kurt's back. Neither one of them said a thing to the other; everything was quiet.

* * *

><p>As the rest of the Warblers filed out of the bus, they came up to Kurt to see if he was alright. Upon noticing the distant look that adorned his usually cool features, most just placed a strong hand on his shoulder and offered a "Hope you feel better, Hummel" or a "Everything will be okay, man" as they walked by. When Wes, David, and Thad finally got off of the bus minutes later, they immediately flocked to Kurt and Blaine, curious to see what the plan was for their newest member.<p>

"Are you going to drive home, Kurt?" David questioned quietly. Even he didn't think it was a good idea.

Kurt wordlessly shrugged, then crossed his arms over his chest and stared down at the asphalt.

"I think I'll have him stay with me tonight," Blaine interrupted. "Then I'll drive him back to Lima or ride back with him. Whatever seems better."

"Are you sure?" Wes lifted an eyebrow. "Aren't your parents expecting you home, Kurt?" He watched as Kurt nodded his head, but still said nothing.

"If you think that him staying with you is for the best, Blaine, then I'm going to have to agree with you. If you change your mind or if he wants to go home later on and needs someone to ride with him, I can always follow you guys back with my car and you can ride home with me or something," David added thoughtfully.

Blaine nodded at his choirmates and turned his attentions back towards Kurt. "You are more than welcome to stay here with me tonight, Kurt. I can drive you back to Lima tomorrow if you don't care. I just don't think you driving home right now is a very good idea."

Kurt bit his lip and nodded, offering a simple, "Okay."

"Keep an eye on him, Blaine, ok?" Thad said as he clapped a hand on Wes' shoulder, "Give us a call if you guys change your minds or anything. We'll be in our room."

The three senior councilmen than bid their adieus and walked off together towards the Dalton dormitory building, leaving Kurt and Blaine standing in the deserted lot.

Both boys stood in front of Kurt's car for a few minutes, trying to figure out what to do. It seemed like time was ticking away slowly for the two of them. Blaine hadn't said a word since Thad, David, and Wes left and Kurt hadn't really said anything since they got off of the bus. Finally, after a few minutes of standing out in the cold, Kurt spoke, "I should call my dad."

"Yes, he's probably worried." Blaine leaned up against the driver's side back door of Kurt's car and watched as his friend dialed up his family on his phone.

"Dad?"

"Uhhhhh, Kurt? That you? Where ya at, dude? You were supposed to call us when you got close to Westerville. Is everything okay?" It was Finn.

"Yeah, everything's fine." He lied. "I just need to stay here tonight. There's umm… Warbler business tomorrow morning. I'll be home sometime late tomorrow morning, ok? Can you tell dad and Carole?"

Finn sighed, "I suppose so. Where are you staying?"

Kurt bit his lip and brought his free hand towards his face. It was clammy from his sweat from earlier. "I'm going to spend the night with Blaine."

Blaine looked up as soon as Kurt said that. _That didn't sound right. God, I hope his family doesn't take that the wrong way and freak out or something._ He looked back at Kurt and watched him pinch the bridge of his nose with two of his long, slender fingers.

"No, Finn, no it's not like that. I just need to stay here. I can't drive home. Just check on Pavarotti for me, okay? I'll be home tomorrow. Promise."

After a few seconds of going back and forth with Finn, Kurt muttered a quiet goodbye and tucked his phone back away in his pants pocket. "Perhaps me staying here is a bad idea…"

Blaine stared long and hard at Kurt before finally speaking, "I insist you stay here, Kurt. You're still shaking." He gestured at Kurt's hands, which were still slightly trembling. "If you want to go home, I'm riding with you. I think it would be for the best if someone stayed with you tonight." _That didn't come out the way he wanted it to._

Kurt ran a hand through his mussed hair and sighed again. "I just don't want Finn to distort my words and tell my dad something that will make him mad." He looked down at the ground. "After that sex talk he tried to give me, I don't know if he'll necessarily trust me around other guys right now."

A small frown crept upon Blaine's face as he remembered trying to talk to Burt about giving Kurt 'the birds and the bees' talk. The frown morphed into a slight smile though when he remembered Kurt coming to school the very next day, flustered and adorable, exclaiming that his father gave him sex pamphlets.

"I'm sure your father will understand, Kurt. You guys have an amazing relationship." Blaine stared once more and added, "I would give anything to have that kind of relationship with my dad. Hell, even with both of my parents." Kurt looked up at him with this statement, but Blaine closed any further discussion immediately as he changed the topic.

"Listen, it's kind of chilly out here. Let's say you grab whatever you need out of your car and then we go to my dorm. If you need any clothes or anything, you can borrow some of mine. No problem."

Kurt shrugged and fumbled with his keys. Once he was able to pull them out of his pocket, he tried to steady his still quivering hands to unlock the door. On the fifth try of trying to get the keys into the lock, Blaine finally grabbed the key with a kind 'May I?' and unlocked the door for him.

Flustered and blushing, Kurt took his keys back and climbed into his car to grab his messenger bag. He had thrown it in there before the Warblers had boarded the bus to go to Dayton. There wasn't much in there: just some of his homework, an emergency toothbrush, some moisturizer, and a few other necessities. He didn't have any spare clothes though - something that he had stopped carrying with him upon his transfer to Dalton, so he supposed he had to borrow some of Blaine's clothes. At this thought, he blushed more ferociously.

"Find everything?" Blaine broke into Kurt's thoughts and the startled teen hopped out of his car.

"Yes," Kurt responded as he locked up his SUV. "Do I need my student ID or anything to get into the dorms?"

Blaine nodded, "Yep. They'll scan it and log you in. That's all. Then you can come back with me." He then held out his hand, "Well, come on then."

Kurt bit his lip, took a deep breath, and slid his hand into Blaine's, letting his friend lead him into the Dalton Academy dormitories.

* * *

><p>"So this is my place."<p>

Kurt stood in the doorway of Blaine's dorm room and nodded in approval. "It's nice. You have style. Usually I can't say that about most people's interior decorating skills."

"Why thank you." Blaine almost blushed, but was able to keep his composure. Turning around to face Kurt, he quipped, "You've calmed down quite a bit. Are you feeling a bit better?"

Kurt nodded and set his messenger bag down on Blaine's desk. He slowly began to walk around the room, glancing at the different pictures his crush had scattered about the place. He had spent almost every single day with Blaine since he had transferred to Dalton and yet it seemed like he was learning new stuff all the time about this mysterious boy he cared so much about. As he got close to the mini-fridge, one funny picture caught his eye. It was of Blaine, himself, and Mercedes after New Directions performed the Thriller mash-up at the football game. Mercedes was decked out in her zombie gear, looking fierce, and behind her were Blaine and Kurt, trying to do their best impressions of zombies. A smile flashed upon his face as he remembered the memory of them getting their picture taken and then Mercedes pulling him to the side, whispering while wagging her eyebrows, "Having fun with Dapper Dan?"

Blaine glanced over at Kurt and noticed him staring at a picture of the two of them and Mercedes. "That was a good time," he chirped coming up behind Kurt. "I really had fun with you at that game." Kurt blushed at this statement and walked away from the mini fridge.

"Perhaps we should change out of our uniforms. We've been in them since early this morning. I'm feeling stuffy."

Kurt nodded at Blaine's suggestion and watched as the dark haired boy walked towards his dresser and start searching through his clothes.

"Do you think you can wear these? I know I'm shorter than you, so they might be a little bit snug in some areas," He blushed held out a pair of midnight blue sweatpants. "The shirt should be okay though," he also held out a plain white undershirt. Kurt muttered his thanks and gladly took them, waiting until Blaine found himself something to wear before he asked where the bathroom was. Imagine his surprise when he realized that the closet door he thought he spotted was actually an ensuite private bathroom.

"I'm one of the lucky ones," Blaine smirked. "I actually got a room with a private bath. These things are very coveted here, especially for we gay men." He chuckled as Kurt threw open the door and commented on the color scheme of the bathroom.

* * *

><p>After a couple of minutes in Blaine's private bathroom, Kurt emerged decked out in Blaine's pajamas. <em>He looks cute<em>, Blaine thought as he looked his friend up and down. "I'm glad they fit okay."

"Yeah, me too." Kurt yawned, stretching his lean body backwards in an attempt to crack his back. When he did this, he gave Blaine a wonderful view of his smooth abdomen and the other boy darted his eyes away, slightly embarrassed to have stared at Kurt's torso for so long. "I didn't realize how tired I was," Kurt yawned once more.

"You can sleep in my bed if you'd like. I can sleep on the floor." Kurt looked mortified at Blaine's suggestion and was about to protest, but Blaine stopped him. "Don't worry. I have a blow up mattress. I bought one after one-too many study sessions with some of the other guys. They were always falling asleep on my floor and I felt bad." He chuckled a bit and pulled the blow up bed box out of his armoire.

After getting the bed blown up and made, Blaine turned back to Kurt, who was sitting Indian style on his bed. "Ready for lights out?" Kurt sleepily nodded and leaned back against the wall, his fingers laced together and hands in his lap.

Blaine pulled the covers down on his makeshift bed and climbed in, then he turned towards Kurt. "You ok?" He stuttered, "Umm.. A-are you wanting to talk about your dream earlier? I'll be a good listener, I promise."

Kurt sighed and looked down at his hands, "I know you're a good listener, Blaine. You always are… but, I'm pretty sure you know what my nightmare was about. It was just like the last few nightmares I had that I told you about. Remember those?" Blaine nodded while Kurt continued, "I just don't want to have dreams like that anymore. They scare me… a lot."

"I know what you mean. It's hard dealing with stuff so severe and then having it still haunt you. I still have nightmares to this day about what-" Blaine trailed off.

He had an off look in his eyes that somewhat confused Kurt. His hazel eyes looked perplexed and somewhat sad and it sort of reminded Kurt of that forlorn, depressed look that his eyes had that day that they first met, when Blaine found out he was spying and when he had admitted that he himself had transferred to Dalton due to bullying. With his stomach churning, Kurt nervously crawled off of Blaine's bed and climbed onto the air mattress. "Blaine?"

Blaine snapped back into reality when he realized that Kurt was climbing into bed with him, "Hmm?"

"Hope you don't mind if I sit down here… but erm, I'd like to talk if you don't care."

Blaine flushed a bit, but still rolled over on the mattress so that there was enough room for Kurt to lay down as well. "I don't mind."

Kurt laid down on his back and crossed his hands behind his head. He stared up at the ceiling and sighed. "You know so many things about me, Blaine a-and I sort of feel like I don't know you… umm, that well, if you know what I mean." He gulped, "I know you were bullied like me and that's why you came to Dalton, but you've never told me what happened. What exactly was the catalyst to push you here."

Blaine rolled onto his back as well and bit his lower lip, "I just-"

"We're friends, aren't we?" The mattress moved slightly with Kurt's weight as he rolled onto his side. "You can tell me anything, you know that? You don't always have to be a listener."

The darker haired boy sighed and closed his eyes, "It's just hard to talk about." He opened his eyes again and let his sight drift to Kurt, who was now laying on his side facing him. Kurt's blue eyes stared lovingly at Blaine and it made him have to catch his breath. "If you really want to know, then I guess I could tell you."

"You don't have to if you don't want to," Kurt whispered. "If you just want to go to bed, we can just do that. Or if you want to talk, I'm here to listen." He reached out and placed his hand on Blaine's upper arm, giving a reassuring squeeze.

Blaine let out a breath that he didn't know he was holding when Kurt touched him, "I can try. I-... It all started when I was in the 8th grade-"

* * *

><p><span>AN: Chapter two will be coming up soon! I've found it rather easy to write when I'm playing *just* Warbler songs, lol. I hope to have the 2nd chapter of this up later this evening or sometime tomorrow. I also believe that the 2nd chapter will be the last one, so hurrah I guess!


	2. Chapter 2

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Glee, nor am I associated with it or Ryan Murphy. I am just an out-of-college daydreamer who sometimes gets into these writing funks and ends up tossing out a story after letting the idea sit in my brain for a few days!

**Sometimes You Need More Than Courage**

By: xSlythStratasfaction

Characters: mostly Kurt and Blaine (w/ mentions of OCs, Warblers, and New Directions)

WARNING: There's some language in here that may be offensive!

* * *

><p>"<em>Look guys, it's LAME ANDERSON!"<em>

_He should've been expecting them: the hecklers. They followed him down the street every morning and every afternoon, calling him names, throwing things at him, whatever they could do to make him miserable. Unfortunately for Blaine, the neanderthals who insisted on making his life a living hell lived in his neighborhood and rode the same school bus as he did. He endured the taunting and the teasing all day, every single day._

_And for what?_

_These kids thought he was gay. He wasn't… or so he thought he wasn't. However, there happened to be a couple of times where he'd be sitting in class and find his stomach churning every time his friend Joshua walked into the room. He liked the way Joshua dressed, how kind he was, and the way his black hair fell in front of his blue eyes. It was cute…_

_Blaine could never tell whether or not the feelings he felt when he saw Joshua were feelings of jealousy (because Josh had it all, of course) or if it was because he had what they called a 'crush' on the boy. He never wanted to dwell on it though, for the fear of the fact that someone would think of him as a 'queer.'_

"_HEY GIRLY BOY! HEY LAME!" Someone behind him was yelling again, "LAME ANDERSON! HELLO? We're talking to you!"_

_He could hear the crowd of kids behind him sniggering with each catcall and insult. Someone was trying to explain to another why they called him 'Lame' instead of Blaine (some stupid play on his name, obviously). They taunted him more and a few of them started kicking rocks at his feet. Laughter was heard from all around._

"_Look guys! He's SCARED!"_

_The short, curly haired boy sped up his walking pace and clutched his book bag closer to his body. The last thing he wanted was to get picked on today, especially on one of the most important days of the year: school picture day._

_If he had to admit it, Blaine thought he looked rather, umm, dapper for the occasion. His outfit was spiffy and casual and he knew he was going to look great in his school picture. His curly, black hair was gelled down perfectly and he looked like a handsome, young gentleman in his opinion._

_Now, if only he could keep the bullies away from him for a few class periods. Then he could get his picture taken and they could have a field day with him afterwards. All he wanted was to get a great picture and impress his parents, that was all. Nothing more, nothing less._

"_HEY LAME! Why ya running?" One of the bigger boys started to jog; Blaine could tell from the sound of heavy feet hitting the pavement. "Come 'ere!"_

_As the boy started to catch up to him, Blaine's running skills burst into gear and he sped around the corner as quick as he could. He didn't know which boy was behind him, but he seriously hoped it wasn't one of the cross country boys he ran with. He knew they could catch him easily and that was the last thing he wanted to happen._

"_HEY FREAK! I'LL ASK YOU AGAIN! WHY YA RUNNING?"_

_There it was: the bus stop. Blaine could see it clearly. No one was there yet (usually he was the first to arrive, considering whether or not he got there safely), but he was hoping that at least one of the neighbors who lived next to the stop would come out and get the hecklers to leave him alone._

_As always though, no one came._

_He could hear the footsteps behind him get closer and closer and his heart was racing. He just had to get to the bus stop! Then he'd be safe… hopefully. With a burst of energy, he sprinted up to the corner where the bus would pull up._

_He was almost there!_

_Then he felt it: two large hands grasp onto his shoulders for dear life, squeezing hard and pulling him backwards. He tried to pull away from the death grip on his arms and all that got him was a huge shove from whoever grabbed him. Blaine's body jerked forward in a fast motion and he felt himself lose his balance quickly._

_And then as quick as it started, it ended._

_Blaine's body smashed into the ground, his face taking the brunt of it as he skidded forward on the pavement. His hands, which he threw outward to help brace his fall, burned as they scratched against the cool, rock hard ground. His goal to make it through the day unscathed went down with him. He had lost._

_The boy who shoved him snorted when he saw Blaine's small body curl up on the ground in sobs. "Why ya crying, fag?" He kicked some dirt into the smaller boy's face and turned on his heel to high-five the other kids who came cheering up behind him._

"_Teach you to run away from me again, faggot." The boy jeered again and then he and his friends walked away from the crying preteen. Blaine just stayed locked in the fetal position, half of his body in severe pain and the other numb._

_His outfit was ruined. His hair was ruined. There was no yearbook picture for him that year._

* * *

><p>Kurt's blue eyes grew big as he listened to Blaine tell about one of his first bullying experiences. His heart also grew sad as he listened to the emotion in his crush's voice as his friend discussed what had happened after he had been pushed.<p>

Blaine had fallen out of the line of sight of the bus driver, so when the bus pulled up, the bullies all boarded and left him out there, bloody and hurt. A neighbor who had been on their way to work spotted Blaine's curled up form on the side of the road and he pulled over and took him home. His parents took him to the hospital and he had to have some stitches on the side of his face from a cut he received when a rock had punctured his cheek. He spent a few days at home and when he went back to school, he was made fun of for having a black-eye and for having to wear bandages on his face and hands.

He never told anyone who had pushed him either. According to what the bully had told Blaine in the hallways one morning before class started, "Snitches get stitches." So, Blaine never told.

Kurt was heartbroken to hear what had happened to the boy he cared so dearly about. Halfway through Blaine's story, he had sat up on the bed and started rubbing one of his hands up and down Blaine's back. Blaine had rolled over onto his stomach before he started to talk and had turned his face away from Kurt's, probably to hide any bit of emotion away from the other boy. As much as it hurt Kurt to have Blaine turned away from him while he talked, he knew he shouldn't pressure someone during a time such as this. Blaine would look to him when he wanted to.

"Kurt?"

The blue eyed boy looked down at the person laying next to him, "Hmm?"

"Do you mind if I go to the bathroom?"

The question shocked him. Blaine wanted to go the bathroom? Was he getting upset? Had Kurt pushed him too much? "Are you okay? I didn't push you too hard, did I? Because if I did, I'm really, really so-"

Blaine interrupted with a smile, "No. No, you didn't push or anything… I, uh… I just have to pee." He chuckled a bit when he felt Kurt's hand shove his shoulder playfully. "What?" He turned his head to face the taller teen, "Sometimes nature calls! And you know if I don't go, my bladder will explode."

"You mean to tell me that you're gonna go from telling me this intense story about your past into cracking jokes about urinating?" Kurt placed his head into his hands and rolled his eyes. "Do what you must."

The weight of the bed changed and Kurt almost toppled off when Blaine's weight disappeared as he rolled off of his side of the bed. Luckily, Kurt braced himself by rolling into the center of the mattress, thus saving himself from a face full of floor.

"I'll be back," Blaine started towards the bathroom, but stopped when he suddenly jumped to the side. "What was that?"

Kurt raised a brow at the dark haired boy, "Huh? What was what?" And then he heard it. The sweet, but muffled chorus of '_I Want To Hold Your Hand _by the Beatles filled the air. It was his phone. Blaine must've heard it vibrate first before it rang. He turned to the stunned boy and asked, "Do you care if I answer this?"

Blaine calmed a little, "Uh no, I don't mind. It's probably your dad. And I bet he really wants to talk to you." With a laugh, the elder Warbler disappeared into the bathroom and locked the door.

Blushing, Kurt opened his phone and spoke softly, "Umm hello?"

"Kurt?"

"Hi dad."

"You're staying with that boy?" Burt Hummel sounded a little annoyed when he spoke. "Why did you call and tell me sooner?"

"Well, umm, the Warblers got back late from performing and I wasn't feeling very well so Blaine offered to let me stay in his dorm."

"With him?" Burt's voice grew a little darker.

Kurt pressed his fingers onto the bridge of his nose, feeling an argument coming on. "Yes dad, with him. But in separate beds though, ok? He has a blow-up mattress set up on the floor now as we speak. I'm going to sleep there." He lied, but he knew he had to. He didn't want to explain to his dad that he was sleeping in Blaine's already slept in, comfy bed while Blaine slept on the blow-up cot.

"Plus," he continued, "I thought I told Finn to tell you. He was the one who answered the phone earlier when I called. I would've called sooner but I fell asleep on the bus. I wasn't feeling too well…"

"Do you want me and Carole to come and get you? You can ride back with Carole and I'll drive your car." Burt seemed like he was going to try everything to keep Kurt from spending the night with Blaine.

Kurt sighed and ran a hand through his messy hair, "No, dad. Everything's alright. I'm gonna drive back to Lima tomorrow morning as soon as I get up. Blaine offered to ride back with me just in case I wasn't feeling well."

"And I suppose you'll want him to spend the night here since he doesn't live in Lima?"

Kurt paled. He hadn't really thought about that. "Umm, maybe. It depends on how I feel, dad. Right now, I feel a bit better, but I don't think me driving back tonight is a good idea. Plus, I don't want you and Carole driving two hours from Lima just to come and get me. I'll come home in the morning."

Burt sighed, "What about Blaine? He's not going to try anything, is he?"

At the mention of the boy in the bathroom, Kurt turned beet red and then proceeded to try to listen to see if he could hear anything coming from the other room. All he heard was the toilet flush and then the sink come on. _Crap, I'm gonna have to end this convo soon…_

"He's not gonna do anything, dad. You've met him before. He's a great guy…"

"And you like him," Burt stated this matter-of-factly, so much so that it scared Kurt a little bit. Had he been _that_ obvious about his feelings towards Blaine?

"…yeah, I do, but-"

* * *

><p>Blaine leaned forward and rested his head against the mirror. He didn't know if he was going to be able to come out and tell Kurt all the things he dealt with while he was in public school. Kurt was still mending from his problems, so the last thing Blaine thought he needed was to take on more problems as well. Speaking of Kurt, Blaine stepped away from the sink and headed closer to the door leading to his room. He didn't want to barge in and cause Kurt to have to end the phone conversation he was having with his father, so he decided to wait until he heard Kurt say goodbye.<p>

In the meantime, just to make it seem like he wasn't listening, Blaine turned the water in the sink back on and stared at his reflection in the bathroom mirror.

"_He doesn't feel the same way about me, dad."_

Blaine turned his head towards what he just heard come out of Kurt's mouth. Despite the fact that water in the sink was running rapidly and despite the fact that Kurt was trying to talk as quiet as he could, Blaine heard him say something that made his stomach flip-flop.

"_No, I promise… yes, I read those pamphlets! Goodness! Dad, no! Nothing's going to happen. He doesn't like me like that."_

Honestly, Blaine wondered what they were talking about out there. If he was going by what he had heard Kurt say, he would probably guess that Burt was asking Kurt if the two Warbler guys were planning on 'getting together' or something. Just the thought of such an intimate interaction with Kurt made Blaine's heart race and his throat lock up. Flashbacks of Kurt's strange gaze earlier, the backward stretch of his body showing off the smooth skin of his stomach, and the way he gently consoled Blaine during their talk filled the Blaine's brain.

_Where were these odd feelings coming from? What was happening?_

Deep down, he knew he felt something for the boy, but he just didn't know what it was. He cared very deeply for Kurt and he got a lot of flack for it too. The other Warblers poked and prodded at him numerous times for supposedly 'flirting' with Kurt during practice. They also got on his case the day after he asked them to help him with the Gap attack; Wes claimed that Blaine wasn't in love with the guy from the Gap, but that he was in love with someone else. Some other Warblers agreed with him, but they all went along with the attack anyways. Hell, even after the Gap attack failed, Kurt basically came out and said that he liked him. When the other Warblers heard about this (after Blaine accidentally let it slip out one night over coffee with the guys), they told Blaine he should go for it… and 'it' meant Kurt.

But Blaine didn't think Kurt was ready for something like that. Hell, he didn't even think _he_ was ready for something that. He did care for Kurt very much, but he couldn't say he was in love with him. He loved him, no doubt, but he wasn't _in_ love.

Sighing, he turned his attentions back to the closed door leading to his bedroom. He had shut off the water long ago and was now debating on whether or not to exit the bathroom.

"_I love you, dad. But I think Blaine is waiting for me to get off of the phone until he comes out of the bathroom."_

SHIT! Had he known that Blaine was waiting for him to finish up on the phone? Blaine felt like his eyes were going to bug out of his head. He sat down on the toilet seat and ran a hand through his messed up hair. He had been caught_._

"_I'll talk to you tomorrow then dad. And thanks, you know, for understanding. I'll see you tomorrow. Love you!"_

A few moments of silence occurred after Kurt had supposedly hung up. Blaine remained in the bathroom, sitting quietly as he prayed under his breath that Kurt didn't realize he was creeping on his phone conversations. He was about to think he was in the clear until he heard,

"You can come out now, Blaine! I'm off the phone!"

Blaine closed his eyes, took in a deep breath, and walked over to the bathroom door. He imagined a verbal assault would be the first thing he'd get as soon as he entered the bedroom. Kurt probably knew he was listening in. _STUPID, STUPID, STUPID!_

He opened the bathroom door…

* * *

><p><span>AN: Okay, I lied. I thought I was going to be able to put the whole story into just two chapters, but because my mind races throughout the day with the most random of thoughts, I wasn't able to fit everything into just one more chapter. So, I imagine there will be a chapter or two after this and then I'm done… hopefully. Anyways, thanks for all the reviews! I really appreciate them! I haven't written in a long time (since I graduated last May actually) and I was worried I had gotten really sloppy!


	3. Chapter 3

_DISCLAIMER:__ I do not own Glee, nor am I associated with it or Ryan Murphy. I am just an out-of-college daydreamer who sometimes gets into these writing funks and ends up tossing out a story after letting the idea sit in my brain for a few days!_

_**Sometimes You Need More Than Courage**_

_By:__ xSlythStratasfaction (formerly known as LadyStrata821)_

_Pairing:__ Kurt x Blaine (friendship only)_

_A/N:__ I decided to write this after having nothing but Klaine stuck in my mind for a week. I tried to go back and rewatch a lot of the scenes the two of them had together and then I started wondering about the mysterious Blaine and his past. That's when I thought of perhaps writing something about him (I'm pretty sure many others have done this as well; I haven't gotten around to reading many Klaine fics, so if this idea has been overdone, I apologize!). Anyways, Blaine's story will be a mix of stuff that I've seen a few of my own gay/lesbian friends go through. This story is dedicated to those friends. I hardly see or hear from any of them very much anymore, but I still think of them! This takes place between the episodes of SEXY_ and _ORIGINAL_ _SONG_!

WARNING: There's some language in here that may be offensive!

* * *

><p>"You really didn't need to haul yourself up in the bathroom, Blaine. I was only talking to my dad. You know him AND he <em>likes<em> you! No need to be so skiddish."

Kurt was sitting on the air mattress, his large cornflower blue eyes shimmering with mischief, staring back at Blaine. He looked rather amused that Blaine had tried to hide in the bathroom while he was on the phone. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Blaine nodded as he walked over to his mini-fridge. "I didn't want to interrupt your phone call. I know your dad has been trying to understand you better and I didn't want to impose by hovering over you or anything. I mean, I know you said he was wanting to have a _sex_ talk with you and I didn't-" He rambled on.

"Blaine!"

The boy stopped in his tracks, suddenly embarrassed for his word vomit.

"Calm down!"

The older Warbler reached into the tiny fridge and pulled out a bottle of water. He mumbled quietly, "Sorry."

"It's alright," Kurt answered softly before he laid back on the firm mattress. Blaine asked him if he'd like anything to drink.

"Just a water, if you don't care."

Blaine brought the bottle to the other teen and then situated himself on the other side of the mattress. Uncapping his water, he took a couple of swigs and then sighed in refreshment. It was like being there with Kurt that very moment was making him parched and uncouth. He wasn't sure what was going on, but it really was messing with him.

In the meantime, Kurt watched the darker haired boy out of the corner of his eye. Just the way Blaine's throat moved with each swallow of water made his heart pound out of his chest. It was like there were 10,000 drummers beating on his heart with steel mallets. He wondered if Blaine could hear his heart thudding so ridiculously in the dead quiet of his room.

"Ummm… what did your dad say?"

The voice snapped Kurt out of his thoughts and he sat up on the bed, looking down at his socked feet. "Uh, he said that he understood why I decided to stay. I, umm, didn't tell him about the nightmare or anything. I just said I wasn't feeling very well and he understood after a while."

Blaine nodded.

"He wasn't upset that you were staying here… _alone_ with me, was he?"

The emphasis on the word 'alone' was enough to make Kurt's heart explode within his chest. He could feel his skin growing unbearably hot, yet he felt horridly cold- scared almost.

"He knows me well enough to know I won't, erm… do anything. Plus, we're just friends and he knows that too, so uh…" He trailed off, feeling his ears turn completely red. He hoped Blaine didn't notice.

_What I wouldn't give to be more than friends with you…_

Blaine glanced over to Kurt, noticing that he had gone suddenly quiet, and spotted the redness of his skin. Usually Kurt was very cool and collected and it was rare to see him blush. Well, it was rare to him. The other Warblers frequently mentioned how beet red the newest Warbler turned during Blaine's solos during practice. Hell, David was very eager to point out how flushed Kurt looked one afternoon after Blaine had sang a couple of lines of Rod Stewart's 'Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?' In David's words, "_It was like he was undressing you with his eyes!_"

As awkward as that conversation with David had been at the time, Blaine started to notice the little things about Kurt that confirmed what the others were saying. Sure, Blaine already knew about Kurt's feelings towards him, but he didn't realize they were _that_ serious. He would often catch Kurt's eye during Warbler meetings, finding the younger teen watching him curiously. Other times, he would purposely send Kurt a text during the meeting just to watch the expression of sheer delight spread across Kurt's nymph-like features. It was like the boy was completely head over heels in love with him or something…

…and _that_ was something that absolutely terrified Blaine.

He wasn't scared that Kurt cared about him. He was just shocked that Kurt would like someone like _him_. In his own humble opinion, Blaine Anderson didn't find himself to be much of a catch. After the whole embarrassing incident with Jeremiah, he could barely face himself. He felt disgusting, stupid, and lame… just like the names the kids used to call him back during his public school days. To see that Kurt held such a distinct candle for him, Blaine felt like such a fake. He may have seemed like a knight in shining armor when Kurt first showed up at Dalton, broken down from the bullying and crumbling from being invisible, but now, he was just… there.

He didn't want Kurt to be in love with something he was not. And in his opinion, everything he was at that very moment was a lie. He wasn't that dapper, charismatic guy that wooed the ladies and wowed the crowds. He was just plain old Blaine Anderson: the hopeless romantic, wannabe singer/songwriter. He wasn't that knight, that savior that Kurt thought he was. He was a lover, not a fighter. He ran away from his problems. That's why he was here at Dalton right now. He couldn't fathom letting Kurt fall in love with someone as pathetic as himself, no way. Kurt deserved better.

_Much better…_

"Blaine, are you… alright?"

Kurt's soft voice snapped him out of his thoughts and he turned to find bright blue-eyes staring intently at him.

"You zoned out for a minute. Are you gonna be okay?" A hand reached out and grasped his, giving a reassuring squeeze, lingering for a moment.

Blaine nodded and looked down at the mattress he was sitting on, "I was just thinking…"

"About what?"

He looked back up at Kurt and saw what he thought looked like thousands of emotions running across the smaller boy's face. He looked curious, sad, thoughtful, concerned, scared, so on and so forth. It was kind of cute how much Kurt worried.

Blaine sighed and gently pulled his hand out of Kurt's grasp. "I was just thinking about how good I am at fooling people."

Kurt looked confused, "What? What do you mean by that?"

"People seem to think I'm this happy-go-lucky, perfect guy, Kurt. But I'm not. I'm just a fake." Blaine stared down at his hands, which were now resting on his knees. "It's all an act. I'm not tough. I'm not smart. I'm not-"

"Not gonna keep putting yourself down!" The hand that he had pulled out of Kurt's was grabbed once more and enveloped in a pair of smooth fingers. Kurt was staring at him with the most intense look he had ever seen on the small boy. "You are one of the bravest, if not the most brave, person I've ever known. I'm not gonna sit here and listen to you put yourself down, especially if you are only doing so to make me change my thoughts about you. I told you once Blaine. I care about you and you can talk to me all day about your short-comings and I won't give a rat's ass."

Blaine's eyes widened at the sound of annoyance in Kurt's voice. The lighter haired teen continued, "I like you the way you are. You are freaking amazing, Blaine. I wish you could see that too. What happened to the guy who lifted me up so much? If it weren't for you, I don't know where I'd be right now. Dead in a dumpster? Hanging upside down in a toilet? Crying in bed, eating myself obese from being depressed? I don't know, but I do know that if it weren't for you and you constantly telling me to have COURAGE, I probably wouldn't be here. It was ALL because of you, Blaine. Because of _you_."

There were tears in his eyes by then. It kind of hurt Blaine to see the pain he caused Kurt to go through. He opened his mouth to say something, but Kurt stopped him by leaning over the bed and pulling him into a tight squeeze.

"You are amazing, Blaine. Don't sell yourself short."

Blaine, now feeling his heart racing at a thousand beats per second, curled his arms around Kurt and held him as well. It felt good to be curled around Kurt like that, honestly. Before he even knew it, a few tears had leaked from his eyes and started down his cheeks. He really wasn't expecting Kurt to cause him to tear up, but here he was, locked in an embrace with one of his best friends, getting ready to cry.

"I can't do this. I can't."

"You can," Kurt breathed into his curly hair. "Tell me what's wrong, Blaine? Why are you so bent on making yourself seem worse than you are? Why?"

And Blaine just cried.

* * *

><p>"<em>Hey Josh."<em>

_A pair of blue eyes looked up from a book, "Oh hey Blaine!" There was that damn pearly white smile again. That same smile that caused Blaine's stomach to feel like there were a couple thousand raving butterflies having a party in his stomach. The black haired boy set his book down and patted the empty space next to him in the bleachers. "What did you want to talk to me about?"_

_Blaine sighed. He had earlier asked Joshua, his crush, to meet him in the gym during lunch. Hardly anyone stayed in the gym during lunch, well minus a couple handfuls of students who coupled up and made out behind the bleachers. But, from what Blaine had seen, there wasn't anyone else in the gym except for him and Josh. Today, he wanted to talk to the older boy about his feelings… just to get them out there in the open. He wasn't going to press Josh or anything, but he was getting sick of being distracted. He wanted to know if Josh felt the same about him and if he didn't, then Blaine would just have to learn to move on._

_He was scared to death to admit to Josh such a personal thing, but they had been best friends for years and Blaine trusted the boy to tell him the truth no matter what._

_He bit his lip nervously and decided to just come out with it, "Josh, can I ask you something? I… I-"_

"_Sure, what is it?" Josh's blue eyes locked onto Blaine's hazel ones and the other boy's stomach flip-flopped._

_Blaine opened his mouth to say something, but found himself closing it over and over again. His throat felt raw and sore, plus he was sure that his vocal cords had locked themselves up in fear. He tried over and over again to get the words to leave his mouth, but nothing came out. Josh's eyes were watching him intently, looking confused as to why Blaine wasn't saying one word to him._

"_You okay, man? Is something wrong?"_

"_Nuh-nothing's wrong." Blaine blanched when he felt Josh's hand pat him on the back. His crush was increasingly close to him now; his hand resting on Blaine's shoulder._

"_Tell me, Blaine." He paused, "Have the guys been picking on you again?"_

_Josh's out-of-the-blue question scared Blaine and he stared intently at the boy before him. Oh how the tables had been turned…_

_He honestly didn't know what to say. Just sitting there next to Josh, feeling the guy's strong hand on his shoulder, made him want to shudder in both fear and admiration. He leaned forward and looked down at his hands, which were resting on his knees. "They've been tame lately. I haven't had to hide any bruises from my parents in a few weeks."_

_Josh's usually bright face contorted into a deep frown. He looked utterly pissed for a moment before he turned back to Blaine and offered a slight smile. "I'm glad they aren't hounding you so much." The blue eyed boy reached down into his pants pocket and handed Blaine a folded up piece of paper._

"_Just read this whenever you feel overwhelmed." He smiled and stood up, ready to leave the gym, but Blaine stopped him._

"_Josh! Wait, please!"_

_The taller teen smiled and gave Blaine a slight wave before stepping off of the bleachers, "I wish I could stay and talk, but I'm supposed to meet Julia before lunch ends."_

"_Julia?"_

"_Yeah, Blaine. Remember Julia? Julia Delano? I've only been in love with her since FOREVER, man!" Josh's face brightened. "I'm thinking about asking her out today. Do you think I should go for it?"_

_Blaine's heart broke in what felt like a million pieces. He stared up at Josh's bright grin and gave his crush a fake smile in return. "I think you should go for it. I think Julia likes you too… and she's pretty hot." He lied._

_Julia was indeed one of the most beautiful people in the school and there were rumors flying around that she may have feelings for a certain blue-eyed track star, but Blaine never knew that the very same blue-eyed track star had feelings for that girl in return. Sighing out of depression, he waved his hands at his crush, "Go on then. You'll miss her if you don't hurry. The bell is going to ring soon!"_

_Josh then beamed at Blaine offering a quick goodbye as he fled the gym, "Thanks man! Wish me luck!"_

_And then he was gone. Blaine felt the very familiar lump of hurt fill his throat and he curled his knees up to his chest. The tears flowed like they were nothing down his cheeks._

_There went the boy he loved… out to get a girlfriend._

* * *

><p>"He was your first crush, wasn't he?"<p>

Blaine nodded into Kurt's chest, feeling the other boy's thin hands run up and down the length of his back. For a moment, the smooth hands stopped and rested on the small of his back, then as quick as they quit, he felt them move back up towards his upper back. Kurt's fingers slowly splayed on his broad shoulders and he felt the younger teen begin kneading the tense muscles gently.

"Did he actually get with that Julia girl?"

Kurt's question was pretty straightforward and for a moment, it made Blaine's heart ache. But Blaine knew that his friend was only curious as to what happened between him and Joshua, so he pushed aside the dull ache he felt in his chest and answered Kurt's question.

"Yes. They were still dating when I left…"

He felt Kurt's fingers squeeze at his shoulders again and he knew the gentle pressing was only to reassure him. With a sigh, he lifted his head from Kurt's chest and moved to lean on the blue-eyed boy's shoulder instead.

"It took me a long time to ever really get over Josh. He was my first love."

"You never really get over your first love," Kurt added as his fingers left the slumped shoulders he had been massaging and moved onto the curly, somewhat gelled locks of Blaine's hair. "You use too much gel."

Blaine laughed a bit, his hot breath on Kurt's exposed collar bone. The feeling of his breath on such an intimate area caused Kurt's body to shudder in response. Deep down, Kurt hoped that Blaine didn't feel how quickly his body trembled. Logic told him though that with the darker haired boy leaning against him so closely, he was bound to have felt the entire earthquake that went through Kurt's form. He blushed.

"Who was your first love?" Blaine's question was simple.

Mentally, Kurt thanked whomever was watching over him for allowing Blaine to ignore what ridiculous response his body just had. "My first love…" He ran his fingers through Blaine's hair once more, "It was, uh… well. I've had quite a few crushes in my lifetime. But I would have to say my first love was, umm… Finn."

Blaine's eyes snapped up to meet his at that very moment. The hazel orbs sparkled with what looked like complete humor.

"ARE YOU SERIOUS?"

Kurt blushed and sat back on the bed, his eyes narrowing at Blaine. "Yes. Don't make fun of me! It was a silly crush I developed a couple of years ago. I'm over it now. Way, WAY over it."

"I would hope so," Blaine chimed. "He's basically your brother now!"

"Shut up."

"Well, it's the truth!" Blaine started to laugh, falling back against the mattress. His hands curled themselves around his sides as he chuckled at the beet red boy sitting across from him.

"Can we change the subject now? This is very embarrassing for me."

Blaine took in one last chuckle before catching his breath. He stared long and hard at the narrowed blue-eyes that watched him and smiled. "Sorry about that, Kurt. Got a little carried away."

"Obviously," Kurt sneered.

"What made you fall in love with Finn anyways? Wasn't he one of the football players who used to torment you back at McKinley… you know, before you guys became a family and all?"

Kurt laid back on the mattress and rested his hands behind his head, "Yeah, something like that. He didn't necessarily stop the other guys from tossing me into the dumpster until after he joined Glee club and got to know me a little better." He paused, then continued, "Even though he was one of my tormentors in the beginning, he did do little things that made me start to have feelings for him. He would let me take off my expensive stuff before the other guys threw me into the dumpster or he'd tell the guys not to shove me into my locker so hard… things like that."

"How caring."

Kurt rolled his eyes, "Shut up. Back then, after getting picked on all the time, those little things meant a lot to me."

"No, no. I get it. I really do." Blaine rolled onto his stomach and placed his hands underneath his chin. He stared straight ahead, across the room at the in-wall heater. "_Josh_ was kind of like that…"

This revelation caused Kurt to raise a brow, "How so…?"

* * *

><p><em>Blaine uncurled himself from the fetal position and stood up, stretching his aching limbs. He rubbed at his eyes viciously, hoping the redness and puffiness that had overtaken his face would disappear soon. He was supposed to be getting ready to head off to fifth period. Lunch was going to be ending soon and he had spent enough time in the gym, sulking because his crush Josh had just taken off to ask out that bitch Julia Delano.<em>

_Okay, so Julia Delano wasn't a bitch… but she was still stealing __**his**__ man._

_Blaine mentally chided himself for being so immature and rude and ran a hand through his curly hair. He had let it start growing out after Josh had told him that the girls thought his hair was super sexy. Deep down, Blaine had hoped that if he had girls clinging all over him all the time, then he might be able to survive his freshman year without any broken bones. However, that seemed to not be the case, as once his hair started to grow, even more taunts were directed at him. Things like 'fairy princess' and 'Shirley Temple' were thrown in his general direction daily. To be honest, Blaine was shocked that his tormentors even knew who Shirley Temple was… but he never questioned that to them verbally. He knew that if he fought back, he was screwed._

_So he just stayed quiet…_

_With a groan of annoyance, Blaine leaned down and gathered up his books. He was hoping the rest of the day would speed by so that he could go home and have an even better cry over his non-existent love life. He deserved this cry, he thought. After all the stuff he went through daily about him being gay and what not, Blaine needed to have a good cry every once in a while. Usually he would wait until he got home from school (when his parents weren't home, of course), run himself a hot bath, and just lay in the tub and sob. It was very… err, comforting to say the least…_

_Grumbling, he walked towards the entrance of the gym and found himself walking straight into a rather large road block._

"_Watch where you're going, homo!"_

_He hadn't been watching where he was going actually, so as soon as he heard the gruff, angry voice yell at him, he knew he was in trouble. It was the same guy who always picked on him: Leonard Addams. Blaine had very many run-ins with Leonard, including that day a year or so ago when Leonard pushed him into the asphalt on picture day._

_He still had a few scars on his face, hands, and knees from the fall, too._

"_Sorry Leonard," Blaine mumbled softly under his breath. "I should've been watching where I was going."_

_Leonard Addams stood a good 6 inches over him. Unfortunately for Blaine, he hadn't hit a growth spurt at all, so he was still rather small and lanky. Despite the fact that he ran track and did weight lifting, one could never tell that he was a 15 year old teenager. Most mistaked him for a 6th__ grader, 7__th__ grader at the most… and Blaine's fellow classmates were always letting him know of his growth delinquencies._

"_Where do you think you're going so soon, fairy boy?"_

_The tall, burly blonde's hands were now on his shoulders, squeezing hard. Blaine bit his lip and kept his eyes locked on his books, which were squeezed flush against his chest. Leonard shook him a bit, causing a few of the books to fall out of his grasp and hit the floor._

"_Look at me when I'm talking to you, pipsqueak!"_

_He shoved Blaine backwards and the smaller boy hit the bottom row of bleachers, stumbling backwards onto the floor._

"_Why are your eyes so red? Were you crying?"_

_Leonard's laughter filled the entire gym, leaving a creepy echo behind it. Blaine scrambled to stand up, suddenly feeling a horrid sense of dread fill the pit of his stomach. He wondered if anyone else was in the gym at that moment. He knew that there wasn't anyone there earlier when he and Joshua had been having their talk, but now he prayed that someone would walk in or pop up out of nowhere._

"_I asked you if you were crying!"_

_Blaine looked up into Leonard's sea green eyes and gulped. The boy now towered over him, his hands bunched into meaty fists. He looked highly annoyed that Blaine hadn't given him an answer yet._

"_No, I-I wasn't crying." Blaine scanned the gym again for any other form of life, hoping that someone would show up soon._

_No one did._

_He felt Leonard's grasp on the collar of his black polo shirt as the larger boy lifted him easily into the air. "You're lying, you stupid little piece of shit. Your face is all messed up and your eyes are red. You've been crying! __**AND**__ I saw Josh just leave the gym! What did you do? Ask him on a date and he turned you down?"_

_Blaine bit his lip. He could taste just a little bit of copper from the amount of pressure he was putting on his lower lip._

"_I thought so." Leonard's green eyes narrowed as he jerked Blaine's body towards his, "Josh isn't a FAG and neither is anyone else in this school, Anderson. No one wants to have butt sex with you! We don't want AIDS, homo!" He spat in Blaine's face as the words escaped his lips._

_When the hot, smelly wetness that was Leonard's saliva hit him in the face, Blaine saw red. He yelled and jerked his body away from the harsh grip that the blonde boy had on him. "Fuck you!"_

_He was honestly shocked that the words had escaped his lips, but as soon as they did, he felt a little bit better about standing up to his bully._

_He didn't feel so great though when he felt Leonard's hands shove him towards the ground. He didn't feel so great when he felt all of Leonard's weight on his chest as the bigger boy threw himself down on top of his chest._

_And he definitely didn't feel so great when he felt Leonard's hard fist crash into his cheek…_

* * *

><p><span>AN: One, I apologize if Blaine seemed OOC. However, not everyone can be all sunshine and rainbows and dapperness all the time, you know? So, at the moment, he's being just a little bit dark. Revealing one's hurtful past can do that to a person… Also, I know I didn't really get into why Josh to Blaine is somewhat like Finn was to Kurt, but I'll get to it soon enough in the next chapter, I promise! Anyways, sorry if this chapter seems jumbled. My sister is on Spring Break and I have the hardest time writing when I know people are hovering over me, wondering what I'm doing all the time. Hopefully I'll be able to put out another chapter very soon! Bear with me! Oh, and comments/reviews are very much appreciated! Thanks!


	4. Chapter 4

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Glee, nor am I associated with it or Ryan Murphy. I am just an out-of-college daydreamer who sometimes gets into these writing funks and ends up tossing out a story after letting the idea sit in my brain for a few days!

**Sometimes You Need More Than Courage**

By: xSlythStratasfaction (formerly known as LadyStrata821)

Pairing: Kurt x Blaine (friendship only)

A/N: I decided to write this after having nothing but Klaine stuck in my mind for a week. I tried to go back and rewatch a lot of the scenes the two of them had together and then I started wondering about the mysterious Blaine and his past. That's when I thought of perhaps writing something about him (I'm pretty sure many others have done this as well; I haven't gotten around to reading many Klaine fics, so if this idea has been overdone, I apologize!). Anyways, Blaine's story will be a mix of stuff that I've seen a few of my own gay/lesbian friends go through. This story is dedicated to those friends. I hardly see or hear from any of them very much anymore, but I still think of them! This takes place between the episodes of _SEXY_ and _ORIGINAL_ _SONG_!

WARNING: There's some language in here that may be offensive!

* * *

><p>"<em>What do you mean he's being suspended?"<em>

_Mr. Anderson's deep voice boomed in the small office. Blaine sat in a chair next to him, between both of his parents actually; his small form crumpled up in pain._

_Earlier that afternoon, he was jumped by Leonard Addams, his hellish tormentor, in the gymnasium. After what had seemed like hours (but had only been a matter of minutes), someone had finally walked past the gym and saw Leonard's fists slamming repeatedly into Blaine's bloody, tear-streaked face. _

_There was a lot of commotion as students and teachers alike entered the gym, wanting to see the epic fight that was going on._

_Blaine remembered hands reaching out and pulling Leonard's burly form off of his. He remembered the blood he saw caked on the other boy's fists. He also remembered leaping up off of the floor with a huge burst of adrenaline as he threw a massive punch to Leonard's jaw._

_And that's what landed him in the office: the punch._

_It was stupid, really. After all the damage that Leonard had done to his body, Blaine felt that he had a right to at least hit the bigger boy back just ONCE. But, the principal didn't see it that way. Since a couple of teachers had been holding onto Leonard when Blaine swung, it was considered an assault… on both Mr. Addams AND the teachers, even though Blaine was no where near hitting anyone on the faculty._

_Whimpering, Blaine moved the ice pack that lay over his right eye and looked over at his mother. She had tears streaming down her cheeks, her hands white as snow from clutching the arms of the chair._

"_He was only trying to protect himself," his mother whispered, her voice small and broken. She seemed terribly distraught and it broke Blaine's heart to know he had failed her._

_He turned his head and looked at his father. William Anderson looked absolutely pissed as he sat there in his seat, seething to the core. His hazel eyes burned green with intensity as he argued back and forth with the school principal, Mr. Collins._

"_My son has done nothing wrong! NOTHING! Ask his friends, they will vouch that Blaine is NOT a troublemaker!"_

_The balding head of schools just sat in his reclining desk chair with a smug look on his face, as if he was happy to see Blaine go. He barely argued back with Mr. Anderson, instead watching the man go off the handle with a smirk. "Mr. Anderson, your son swung at one of our faculty. I cannot simply allow that to be unpunished. He and Mr. Addams will both be under out of school suspension for a week's time. Once they return, both boys will have two weeks of in-school suspension at the alternative learning center. I must also suggest that you get young Blaine some anger management classes. It may help his issues in the future."_

_Blaine's eyes shot up at the principal that very moment. Only one of his eyes could focus properly (the other one was swollen to hell), but he could clearly see the look of satisfaction on his principal's face when he said those horrible things about him. His stomach churned as he watched the principal slowly rise from his seat and start towards the door._

"_Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a meeting to be getting to. Please remove your son from the school premises immediately. His suspension starts now."_

* * *

><p>"You shouldn't have been suspended, Blaine."<p>

Kurt's voice was soft and soothing to the shorter teen. Blaine laid his cheek against his palm as he sat up on the mattress. He could easily see the younger boy's blue eyes watching him intently, waiting for him to continue his story.

"Do you want to know why I hit that asshole?"

"More than anything," Kurt's eyes flashed as he leaned closer to Blaine's body. He reached out and placed a hand on Blaine's shoulder. "I know he deserved it…"

Blaine sighed, "My mom is from the Philippines. I hit him because he said something about my mother."

"What did he say?"

"I don't really want to repeat it… but he just kept on saying things about her. About her race. Over and over and over again. I got sick of hearing it."

Kurt didn't miss the tears that started to form in Blaine's hazel eyes. They glossed over very quickly as the boy began to talk about his mother and it made Kurt's heart throb in pain. He got emotional about his mom as well, even though she had been gone for years…

Blaine continued softly, "I can take people saying things about me… but not about my mom. Or either of my parents, actually. I love them to death, despite the fact that-"

He stopped.

* * *

><p>"<em>You should've kept your hands to yourself!"<em>

_William Anderson's voice was loud and menacing. His knuckles were white from squeezing so hard on the steering wheel and his hazel eyes were still as wild as they were when he was yelling back at the high school._

_Blaine closed his eyes and leaned back against the cool leather seats of his dad's luxury car. He balanced the melting ice pack on his swollen eye and took a deep breath to try to calm himself. He had just spent the last few minutes in the car sobbing because his dad was so furious with him and from all the crying he had just done, he had aggravated what was a dull ache in his ribs. The dull ache had now built up to a full on throbbing and it hurt to breathe._

_**Calm yourself, Blaine… calm down… he's just upset…**_

"_Now you've been suspended for a WHOLE WEEK! A WHOLE WEEK, BLAINE! What are we going to do?"_

_The yelling had grown louder and it was now giving Blaine a horrid headache. In all reality, he kind of wished he was curled up under the bleachers in the gym. If only Leonard had beaten him up and left him for dead in the gymnasium, then he could rest and just sleep. His head hurt him so bad…_

"_William, darling, please. Blaine is hurt! You can't just keep yelling at him like this. We have to get him to the doctor. I think he may have-"_

_Maria Anderson's voice was much more calm… and much quieter. She had turned around in her seat and was slowly running her fingers through her son's bloody, matted black curls. Blaine opened his eyes to look at her when she ran a finger over a gash in his forehead._

_**She was absolutely stunning**__, he thought. Her jet black hair was shiny, straight, and silky. He wished he had her hair (curls can be a bitch sometimes); he had inherited his father's curly locks and hazel eyes. The dark hair came from her though. His father's hair was a brown shade, almost red in certain lights. Also, unlike his mother, Blaine had lighter skin like his dad. He did tan well though, but he certainly wasn't as tan as his gorgeous mother._

…_**Am I dying? Is that why I'm being so observational?**_

_Blaine's thoughts switched from his mother's looks to his potential well-being. Something was off. He never really reflected on how pretty his mom was unless something was wrong. Groaning, he leaned into her touch as she placed a cool hand against his bruised cheek. __**Something was definitely wrong…**_

"_Blaine, honey. Can you stay awake for mommy, please?"_

_Her incredibly dark brown eyes peered down at him with tears sparkling behind her long, black lashes. She looked frightened._

"_William, I think he may have a concussion. He's zoning in and out."_

_Mr. Anderson huffed, "Well, if he would learn to keep his hands to himself, he wouldn't be in this predicament."_

* * *

><p>"I think somewhere between the school and the hospital, I must've passed out at least eight times. My mom kept on shaking me awake and I was so mad. The last couple times she woke me up, I threw up in the car and then I had to listen to my dad scream at me for messing up his leather interior…"<p>

Blaine took a swig of his water and stood up from the air mattress. He slowly began to pace the room, ready to continue on with his story.

Kurt watched him pace.

* * *

><p><em>He had spent a few hours in the ER that night. It turned out that he had a concussion, as well as some bruised ribs and a black eye. He also had to get stitches in one of his cheeks, on his forehead, and in his lower lip. Leonard Addams had truly fucked him up this time.<em>

_Laying in bed was really the only thing Blaine could do at the moment. He was on so many pain meds that the days and nights he spent at home seemed like they had meshed together and created just one long period of time. He had a tutor who would come in for a few hours each day to catch him up on his homework and she was basically the only visitor he got…_

_His parents had spent even less time with him than Blaine thought they would have. His mom stopped in periodically to bring him food or to check his temperature, but most of the time, she stayed away. He never failed to catch the disappointed look in her eyes though when she stood over him as she took his temperature. He could never figure out why she would give him such a look though…_

_As for his father… his dad was pissed at him. Pissed because they had to shell out more money to the hospital for Blaine's emergency room visit and pissed because they had to hire a tutor to come over and teach Blaine while he was suspended from school. Blaine thought the whole ordeal with his father being pissed was hilarious. The Andersons were NOT poor. They had enough money to live comfortably and then some, so Blaine never understood his father's anger over having to help out his injured son._

_However, late one night, as he laid in bed curled up with a bag of ice on his swollen eye, he heard his parents arguing out in the hallway, right outside the door to his room._

"_I can't keep dealing with this shit, Maria."_

"_But Blaine is-"_

"_I'm not going to keep shelling out thousands of dollars to keep fixing that kid up! Every few months, I have to throw down hundreds of thousands of dollars just to keep him in school… and for what? So he can get into another fight and then get suspended again?"_

"_Those kids are picking on him…"_

"_He needs to let that shit go, Maria."_

_**He tried to let that SHIT go… he really did. His parents had NO idea how many other times he had hidden the bruises and stuff he came home with… they had NO IDEA.**_

"_He's just so small, William. He hasn't hit his growth spurt yet… and you know how mean kids can be to someone who is different than they are."_

"_It's not because he's __**small**__… and you damn well know that."_

"_William!"_

"_You've heard the rumors. You've seen the way he acts. Our son is-"_

"_WILLIAM!"_

"_He's a fucking faggot, Maria! What am I supposed to do with a fag son?"_

_Silence._

"_That's what I thought."_

_And everything got quiet. The hall light turned off and Blaine curled himself into a ball and sobbed himself to a fitful sleep._

_**His parents were so disappointed in him…**_

* * *

><p><span>AN: Sorry if this chapter seems rushed. I'm a little bit under the weather and my sister just started going back to school, so I'm trying to get back into writing again since she's no longer hovering over my shoulder asking me, "HEY! WHAT'RE YA WRITING?" Anyways, I'm also very sorry that I haven't gotten to the Josh-is-like-Finn connection, but I will be getting to that in the next chapter, hopefully. Thanks for sticking with me though! And thanks for all the reviews as well! I really appreciate them; they motivate me to keep writing (plus I love getting ideas from my readers as well!)


	5. Chapter 5

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Glee, nor am I associated with it or Ryan Murphy. I am just an out-of-college daydreamer who sometimes gets into these writing funks and ends up tossing out a story after letting the idea sit in my brain for a few days!

**Sometimes You Need More Than Courage**

By: xSlythStratasfaction (formerly known as LadyStrata821)

Pairing: Kurt x Blaine (friendship only)

A/N: I decided to write this after having nothing but Klaine stuck in my mind for a week. I tried to go back and rewatch a lot of the scenes the two of them had together and then I started wondering about the mysterious Blaine and his past. That's when I thought of perhaps writing something about him (I'm pretty sure many others have done this as well; I haven't gotten around to reading many Klaine fics, so if this idea has been overdone, I apologize!). Anyways, Blaine's story will be a mix of stuff that I've seen a few of my own gay/lesbian friends go through. This story is dedicated to those friends. I hardly see or hear from any of them very much anymore, but I still think of them! This takes place between the episodes of _SEXY_ and _ORIGINAL_ _SONG_!

WARNING: There's some language in here that may be offensive!

* * *

><p>Hot and angry tears were falling down Blaine's flushed cheeks.<p>

Kurt sat on the air mattress, his hands to his lips as tears fell down his own cheeks as well. Blaine had one of _those_ parents. The _my-kid-cannot-be-gay-because-gay-is-wrong _types of parent. The same kind of parent that Kurt had once feared that Burt would be.

It broke his heart to know that the boy he was in love with had dealt with the very same thing Kurt only had nightmares about.

Choking back a sob, he picked up Blaine's pillow and brought it to his face, trying to drown out the sounds of his tears. He didn't want Blaine to know he was crying. He didn't want Blaine to think he was any weaker than he was, especially since this was Blaine's moment.

But, Kurt was always a drama queen… even when he didn't want to be.

In that moment, he was crying not only for Blaine, but for himself. For himself because he was **lucky**. _Lucky_ that Burt understood. _Lucky _that the only thing Burt worried about when it came to his son being gay was whether or not Kurt was safe when it came to having intimate relations with another man. _Lucky_ that Burt wanted him to find love and be happy… _and that was __**all**__ that mattered_.

Kurt was lucky. Blaine was not.

Pulling his face out of the pillow, Kurt wiped his tears, stood up from the mattress, and walked up behind Blaine. The shorter boy was leaning up against his desk, his head dropped low as he tried to hide his tears.

"You can cry, you know."

Kurt's hands ran up and down Blaine's shoulder blades and he pressed his body against his crush's. He leaned his head down into the somewhat gelled curls and wrapped his arms around Blaine.

"If you want to stop talking about all this, we can."

There was silence.

Blaine's body relaxed against Kurt's and he coughed. "No, I'm not ready to stop."

* * *

><p><em>The Andersons stayed away from one another for the rest of the week that Blaine was under out of school suspension.<em>

_As his injuries healed, Blaine found himself feeling more lonely as the days ticked away. Not once had he heard from Josh, nor any of his other classmates. No one seemed to care that he had the crap beaten out of him. No one seemed to care that he was sitting at home, aching and bruised from being pummeled to hell and back._

_**No one cared…**_

_During the last few days of his suspension, after the tutor had left for the day and Blaine was left home alone, he would often leave his room and sit out in the sunroom, his nose in a book. He read through the first few Harry Potter novels, letting his imagination run wild as he thumbed through each page. Sometimes he imagined that James and Lily Potter were his parents and that they would've accepted him whether he was straight or not._

_Sometimes he imagined Voldemort coming up behind Leonard Addams in the hallway and Avada Kedavra-ing his ass to hell._

_Those times that he was able to slip away into his imagination were some of the brighter periods of his suspension stay. The rest of the days, whether he was being ignored by his parents or whether he was just stuck in bed with an aching chest, were the dark times. No one seemed to care that he was struggling. Not one person._

_It had almost been the end of the week when he got his first actual visitor…_

_It was a lazy, rainy Saturday afternoon. The sound of 'Amazing Grace' chimed through the house as someone rang the downstairs front doorbell. Blaine was quick to roll out of bed to see who it was. It was unusual for the Anderson household to get visitors on a Saturday._

_Imagine his surprise when he opened the door to find Joshua, his crush, standing on the steps, a goofy smile plastered to his face._

"_Hey Blaine."_

"_Josh! Hey!"_

_Blaine stepped back to let his friend into the house. The taller teen folded up his umbrella and dropped it into the umbrella stand that sat next to the door._

"_How have you been?"_

_The shorter teen smiled stupidly as he took Josh's coat and hung it up on the coat rack, "I've been better, I suppose. You're my first visitor."_

_He didn't miss the flash of pain that sprang from Josh's beautiful blue eyes. __**So, Josh was sad that he hadn't visited Blaine since he had been suspended**__. As he should be!_

"_I was wondering when you were going to come over, actually. My parents were wondering where you were also." Blaine lied, knowing his parents actually hadn't said anything to him since the beginning of the week. But he wanted to see if Josh would say anything to him in return._

_Instead of immediately answering, the blue-eyed teen sauntered into the living room and plopped down on the couch. He patted the area next to him for Blaine to sit down. "Come. Sit."_

_His gesture made Blaine blush and the smaller teen took a seat a few feet away from his crush, his hazel eyes downcast as he sat._

"_Blaine?" Josh started, "I'm sorry I haven't been out to visit you. I've been really busy over the last few days."_

_He coughed and looked down at his hands, "Track and stuff have been taking up my time as you know. Practice is not the same without ya, bud. Also, Julia and I are officially going out!" His blue eyes looked excited as they gazed into Blaine's annoyed hazel ones._

_**Did this boy really come all the way out here to tell me that he and Julia were DATING?**_

_Josh continued, "I wanted to see you sooner, but I was just swamped with everything. Schoolwork, practice, Julia. You know!"_

_Blaine felt his body grow hot with frustration. Part of him wanted to reach out and strangle Josh and the other part wanted to be dramatic and run off in tears. He chose the frustration instead._

"_You didn't come to visit ME because you were busy dating JULIA?"_

"_Whoa Blaine, calm down!" Josh threw his hands into the air. "I didn't know if you could get any visitors anyways! Plus, I can't just bail out on Julia so quick. I want this to work! You know how much I like Julia…"_

"_I'm your best friend, Josh! Do you see me right now? Do you see what that asshole did to me?" Blaine was growing hysterical, pointing to his bruised, stitched up face. This was not what he was wanting to happen._

"_I know you're my best friend, Blaine… but Julia is my girlfriend. I know it sounds dumb and you're probably pissed at me… but I was going to come and see you as soon as everything got settled down."_

"_Everything got settled down? What's THAT supposed to mean?"_

_Blaine's chest was hurting profusely from the amount of yelling he was doing. The bruising on his ribcage throbbed with each deep inhale and exhale of breath. He grimaced as he stood up from the couch and paced around the living room furiously._

"_What have people been saying?"_

_Josh looked down at his feet, suddenly quiet. Blaine wanted him to just say something, anything. The silence was pissing him off and the fact that his crush wasn't looking at him anymore didn't do him any wonders either._

"_WHAT. HAVE. THEY. BEEN. SAYING. JOSHUA?"_

_Josh's eyes were blank when he finally looked up at the smaller boy. He opened his mouth and then closed it once more. Finally, he cleared his throat, "People have been saying things about you… and __**me**__."_

_Blaine stopped in his tracks and kept his eyes locked on Josh's. He immediately feared the worst. Chills crept over his body and his stomach did a massive flip flop._

_**Oh no…**_

"_Leonard Addams told his friends that you're in love with me, Blaine. Is that true? Are you in love with me?"_

_Bile._

_That's what immediately filled Blaine's throat. He was going to throw up… everywhere._

_He brought his hands up to his mouth and sprinted out of the living room at lightning speed, barely making it to the bathroom before he started to lurch up his lunch. Everything burned: his throat, his chest, his stomach, his eyes… everything._

_**Joshua knew. He knew… everyone knew.**_

_**Leonard told everyone.**_

_**It was all over. The facade was broken.**_

_Blaine's body was curled over the toilet in the lavish guest bathroom. He lurched and groaned and then lurched again. Everything hurt so bad as his body struggled to release itself of any and everything he had eaten within the last day or so._

"_Oh God, why?"_

_Tears were streaming down his cheeks and he wrapped his arms around his waist as he sunk from the toilet to the bathroom floor._

_**Just let me die… **__his mind wished over and over again. __**Just kill me, please.**_

"_Blaine?"_

_Joshua hovered in the doorway, his eyes cast downward at the floor as he watched Blaine's body rock back and forth on the cold tile._

"_Are you going to be okay?"_

_The smaller boy closed his eyes, trying to wish Josh away, but to no avail. The taller teen leaned down until he was face-to-face with Blaine and he held out some toilet paper._

"_Wipe off your mouth, Blaine. Rinse it out and come out to the living room. We need to talk."_

* * *

><p>The more and more Blaine talked, the more and more the two boys moved around his tiny dorm room.<p>

Blaine was now seated at his desk, his chair turned towards Kurt. The younger teen was casually leaning against the wall opposite of his friend, his arms crossed over his chest as he stared down at the floor.

"I didn't want to talk to Josh, you know. I tried to plan my escape out of my house. I wanted to run, to hide, but my mind was racing so bad from him confronting me that I just sat there in the bathroom for what seemed like forever."

Kurt bit his lip, "I don't think I'd want to talk to him either if he blew me off for his girlfriend."

Once those words escaped Kurt's lips, he immediately wished he could retract them and replace them with something, umm… nicer? He didn't mean to be so rude, but honestly, it sounded to him like that Josh punk didn't even deserve Blaine's attention.

_Blowing off his injured best friend for a GIRL, psh!_

_Bros before hoes, _he imagined Puck casually throwing out there. _Bros before hoes, man. Always._

As offensive as that was though, Kurt sort of agreed with it when it came to that blue-balled boy Josh that Blaine spoke of. There was no doubt in Kurt's mind that if he were straight and if Blaine were hurt, that he'd blow off his girlfriend to go make sure his best friend was okay.

_Okay, so… he'd never be straight, so he didn't know if he could use that argument, BUT he could totally use it if he switched the girlfriend aspect to a boyfriend instead… right? He would definitely blow off his boyfriend to visit Blaine… if Blaine wasn't already the boyfriend, that is…_

Sighing softly and rolling his eyes as his previous thought, Kurt lifted his gaze up from the floor and directed his attention to the boy sitting across from him.

"…What else happened?"

* * *

><p><em>It took Blaine a while to finally get himself all cleaned up.<em>

_He sat in the bathroom for what seemed like another hour before he finally stopped crying, stood up, and fixed himself up. After staring at his reflection in the bathroom mirror for a few minutes, he exited the restroom and started down the long hallway towards the living room._

_There he found Josh. The older (by only a month exactly) teen was sitting on the couch where he had been previously, his head in his hands as he stared down at the floor._

_Blaine cleared his throat, "Josh?"_

"_Yeah."_

"_You wanted to talk."_

_Josh nodded his head and looked up at Blaine. The other boy took a seat in one of the large plush recliner chairs on the other side of the room. "Don't run away this time."_

"_I'll try not to," Blaine's voice was hoarse._

_The two boys sat in silence for a few minutes before Josh finally coughed and popped each and every one of his knuckles._

"_Is what Leonard said true, Blaine?"_

_Silence._

"_Are you in love with me?"_

_Hazel eyes darted to the floor, "I- I- I do like you, Joshua. I have since forever… even before I thought- I knew I was… uh, gay."_

_He heard Josh let out a huge sigh. Obviously his crush had been holding his breath, probably wishing that the rumors weren't true._

_Josh finally spoke up, "You do know that-"_

"_That you don't feel the same way about me. Yes, I know."_

"_You're my best friend, Blaine. But, I'm straight. Straight as a pencil. Straight as ruler. Just straight. I can't reciprocate feelings for you like that… I'm sorry."_

_Amazingly, the rejection wasn't as horrid as Blaine thought it would've been. He had been expecting Josh to call him some nasty, homophobic names, then get up and storm out of the house. In the back of his mind, he also thought Josh would've turned on him and might've had a lynch mob already in the wings, waiting to catch Blaine unawares and take him out._

_But, none of those things happened. Josh just sat there, his blue eyes downcast, staring at his interlocked fingers._

_Blaine closed his eyes and tried to stall the tears that he felt brimming. "I know you don't feel that way, Josh. That's why I never told you. I didn't want to scare you away. I'm sorry if this… if this is too much for you."_

_The taller teen stood up and made his way over to Blaine. He placed a hand on the other boy's shoulder and whispered, "I've still got your back, B. I always will. And don't apologize, okay? You and I are still friends. I'm not overwhelmed at all."_

_Blaine looked up and stared deeply into his crush's oceanic eyes. "You aren't?" He was sniffling now, on the verge of tears._

"_No, I'm not. Now quit crying. You've done enough of that. Stay strong."_

_**Stay strong… **__Blaine knew Josh had said those same words to him before. Was it during their talk in the gym last week? No…? He couldn't remember. His mind boggled itself as he tried to pinpoint where and when he had heard Josh's sweet voice say those words._

"_I have to go. You heal up quick, ok Blaine?"_

_The hand on his shoulder disappeared and the next thing Blaine knew, Josh was gone. The only reminder that he had been in the room was the smell of his cologne lingering in the air._

_It was this lingering smell that helped Blaine's brain pinpoint where he remembered Josh saying "Stay Strong." He carefully stood up and reached into the pocket of his sweatpants, taking out a crumpled piece of folded paper. He unfolded the delicate note and stared at it as tears streamed down his cheeks._

_**Stay strong, B. I'm always here for you. -J**_

* * *

><p>Kurt fought the urge to roll his eyes.<p>

Something didn't seem right to him about this Josh kid. Blaine spoke so highly of him and yet the kid still blew his injured friend off to hang out with his girlfriend. _Sure, perhaps that guy was a little creeped out that his best friend happened to be gay and was in love with him_… but that shouldn't have stopped him from at least picking up the phone and making sure his friend was alright.

Just thinking about this guy made Kurt angry… and not angry like "OMG, you spilled coffee on my messenger bag" angry (though that really pissed him off the one time Jeff accidentally did that before class), but angry like "don't you EVER mess with my family again or I'll kill you" angry. And Kurt never really got to that point of ferocity unless it was about his dad.

_You care more about Blaine that you think, kiddo._

He could hear his dad's voice fill his mind as he watched Blaine pace around the room. It was true, what his 'dad' just said to him. He did care very deeply for Blaine and he was very, very honored that Blaine had finally decided to open up to him about his past. There was nothing in this world that could tear him away from Blaine at that very moment. He wanted to be there, to be the one that Blaine came to when he had a problem.

Much like how Blaine had been there for him when he had problems.

Blaine was his protector, if you will. Kurt always felt stronger and safer when he was in his crush's presence… and not just because he was in love with Blaine either. Blaine made it very easy for someone to fall in love with him: he was charismatic, _handsome_, well-spoken, and thoughtful. He was, essentially, Kurt's dream guy.

_The Ken to his Barbie. The Harry to his Sally. The Alexander McQueen to his Gaga._

A blush crept across his face then and he brushed a hand through his hair. He really, _really_ cared about Blaine.

"Josh wasn't really what I thought he was though."

The little hearts with Blaine's face in them that floated around Kurt's head and that had taken over his mind popped one by one, very quickly. He looked up in the direction of where the quiet, whispery voice came and found Blaine standing in front of his window, staring down at the darkened courtyard.

Kurt pushed himself away from the wall he was leaning on and made his way over the window.

"Josh betrayed you, didn't he?"

Blaine looked back out into the darkness.

* * *

><p><em>Three weeks passed so slowly for Blaine.<em>

_The first week he spent under suspension had been in his own house. An older woman would come by everyday at 9 AM and would tutor him until noon. Then he had all day to do whatever he wanted (he mostly slept since his body was still trying to heal from the assault)._

_The second and third weeks he had to go to an alternative learning school. It was a school where they sent juvenile delinquents who acted out one too many times in public school. He had to sit in a class of 20 or so other people who had been kicked out of their own schools for fighting, doing drugs, or stealing._

_A lot of the people he had class with weren't the bullied either. They were the bullies themselves. The lot of them would sit around in class, bragging about what they did to get stuck in the ALS. Based on what he heard from their mouths, he started to give up hope for humanity. He never understood how people could be so cruel, so heartless._

_Luckily for him, the delinquents he had class with barely paid attention to him. He sat in the back of the class ALWAYS and never spoke a word. He was only there from 8 AM until 1 PM, so he trained himself to just be as unnoticeable as possible for the next two weeks. His quietness and straight laced nature made the other kids in his class think he had done something rather massive to have been thrown in the ALS. He even heard one girl tell her friend that she thought Blaine was one of those silent-killer types. He almost rolled his eyes when she said that, but her eyes had been locked on him at that very moment, so he just sent her a dark glare. And the rumor stuck…_

_Also, he was very lucky that Leonard Addams wasn't in his class at the ALS. Addams was put into another classroom down the hall and the only time Blaine really saw him was at the end of the day when people's parents came to pick them up. Blaine would watch as Leonard's mom (a very strikingly beautiful blonde woman) would swing by in a red mini-van and pick up her menacing, asshole of a son. After Blaine was sure that Mrs. Addams van was far enough away from the ALS, he would start to walk._

_His parents were both working and neither one of them thought to arrange a ride to and from the ALS for their son. So, Blaine just walked._

_He spent the next two weeks after his initial home-only suspension was lifted going back and forth from his home to the ALS. Luckily, the distance between his home and the ALS wasn't too bad and since Blaine ran track, he was able to practice his long-distance running._

_And he did._

_Finally, the three week suspension ended and Blaine was able to quit jogging to and from the ALS and actually start riding his bus back to his high school._

_The very first day back, Blaine was shocked that he didn't see Leonard on the bus. They had ridden the same bus for years and there wasn't a bus ride that went by where Leonard and his friends weren't throwing things into Blaine's curly hair or calling him names._

_But, on this day, Leonard wasn't on the bus and his friends, who usually tormented him even if Leonard wasn't there, did absolutely nothing to him._

_Blaine asked himself if he should've been nervous that no one was picking on him, but he later coughed it up to Leonard probably telling his friends to let Blaine think he wasn't getting beat up today and then they'd mob him after school or something._

_**Some ridiculous plan like that… right?**_

_Sighing, Blaine stepped off the bus and took the short walk towards the school's entrance. To be honest, he really didn't miss the school at all. Sure, he missed track, chorus, art, and maybe even band, but as for the rest of the school, he didn't really give a flying fuck… as vulgar as that sounds._

_He was almost into the building when he heard laughter coming from behind him. There wasn't just one person laughing, there were two. And he recognized the laughs instantly._

_His neck throbbed from the whiplash he gave it when he whipped his head around to stare at the two people laughing behind him. Walking up the sidewalk from the school parking lot was Josh, his arm linked with Julia Delano, and on the other side of Julia (who wasn't saying a word) was none other than Leonard Addams himself._

_The three of them looked like old buddies, the way they were walking next to each other, chattering away. Julia wasn't actually chatting at all. She was looking curiously between the two guys; every once in a while cracking a smile at Joshua when he said something funny._

_Just the sight of the three of them made Blaine's skin crawl. His stomach fell from its perch in his abdomen and fell to his feet (or at least it felt like it) and he instantly felt like he needed to puke._

"_Oh look, it's Lame!"_

_**Fuck, there's that nickname again… **__Blaine's body tensed as Leonard walked up to him and then slowly walked a circle around his stiff body. It was like a lion stalking its prey or something. Blaine didn't know whether or not he should run or if he should just drop dead in the courtyard._

_He was absolutely terrified._

_Glancing upwards, he locked eyes with Joshua, who had been staring intensely at him. His blue eyes looked different, more sad than usual. Just the sight of his blank gaze made Blaine feel even more scared for his life. Josh wouldn't have looked at him like that if something weren't terribly wrong._

"_Joshua?"_

_His voice came out small. He was trying to call out to his friend. It was like his body immediately sensed the danger that was about to occur and he was wanting his best friend to help him out, to chase Leonard off. But instead, his crush just stared at him with the most perplexed look on his face._

_Then he saw it. Josh's mouth moved slowly as it whispered, "I'm sorry…"_

_Hazel eyes widened as he saw Julia smirk viciously at him. Two large hands grabbed at his book bag, taking the item and launching it across the courtyard. Leonard laughed when the bag skidded into a bush._

"_Miss me, Anderson?"_

_Blaine gulped, his body now trembling. He looked to his best friend again, hoping the boy would help him out, "Josh, please."_

"_Oh, begging for butt sex, homo?" Leonard shoved Blaine forward towards Josh. "Joshy here doesn't want AIDs. How many times do I have to tell you?" He kicked Blaine in the back of the knee, knocking the smaller boy off balance. His body fell to the ground._

"_Tell him, Josh. Tell him what you told me."_

_Blaine looked up at his friend, instantly scared at what the blue-eyed boy was going to say. __**What had he told Leonard? What did he say?**_

_Leonard answered his question quick enough, "Remember what you told me Josh? Remember how you said that fairy pants over here tried to lure you into his house and touch you? Remember?" He turned to the shocked Blaine, who was sitting on the ground with tears in his eyes._

"_That n-never happened."_

"_Oh shut the fuck up, Anderson. You think anyone's gonna believe someone like you? Someone who only joined the track team to check out the other guys' junks? Really?"_

_The burly blonde was leaning down now, his hot, smelly breath blowing onto Blaine's face. "Josh told me that you invited him over and tried to get into his pants. Honestly, Lame, you think Josh would want a piece of __**you**__. You're like a hobbit. Ugly and short."_

_He snorted and continued, "Plus, Josh's got that hot piece of ass right there." Julia laughed from behind him, "And I don't think he's gonna want to pass that up for some fairy princess like yourself."_

_Blaine closed his eyes, trying to block everything out. __**He wasn't there. He was at home. He wasn't there. He was at home. He wasn't there.**_

_He was there._

_A fist to his temple reminded him of that. He crumpled to the ground and watched as everything became blurry for a moment. It felt like someone had grabbed his head and shook it up a bunch. His eyes were darting all over the place, the world was spinning, and he felt instantly nauseous._

"_Why?" His voice croaked out as he struggled to get back to his feet. He was only able to stand up for a few seconds before he crashed back down to the ground again._

_**God, everything hurt.**_

_Joshua moved away from his spot next to Julia and walked over to where Leonard was standing. "Len, man. Not so hard next time. He's having a hard time getting up. I think you really hurt him this time."_

_Leonard shot the smaller boy a look and sneered, "So what? Why does this matter to you anyways?"_

_The blue-eyed teen frowned and looked back at Blaine, watching as the frail guy tried to get up again and stumbled once more, hitting the pavement hard. He gulped, "Len, if you get caught beating up on Anderson again, you can get into much more trouble than you did last time. Like serious trouble. I'm just trying to protect you, man."_

_At this, Leonard reached up and rubbed his scruffy chin, obviously thinking over Joshua's concern. Finally after a few moments of thinking, he nodded._

"_Yeah, man. You're right. I'm not getting my ass suspended again just for some faggot. Come on, let's go inside before the bell rings. I need to go to the vending machines."_

_He beckoned for Julia and Joshua to follow him and the couple linked arms, walking behind the tall blonde dude into the school. Joshua paused for a moment, looking back at Blaine, and muttered another, "God, I'm so sorry" before he went into the building._

_In the mean time, Blaine had finally gotten himself into a sitting position. His vision was still muddled, his head still swam, and his hearing seemed deepened, like he was under water. He tried to focus on the courtyard, looking for his backpack. He spotted it over by some bushes and slowly pushed himself off of the ground._

_It took him a couple of tries, but he was finally able to stand up and stumble over to his book bag. He leaned down to pick it up and once again lost his balance, falling into the bush. It was there that he decided to stay for a while._

_His other schoolmates gave him slight glances as they walked by, noticing how he was laying there in the bush. Yet, despite the fact that some of them had remorseful looks on their faces, no one bothered to stop to help him up or to see if he was alright. They all just kept on moving._

_No one wanted to help the gay guy. It was like he was cursed or something. If they touched him, they caught a disease. No one wanted to help him, so he'd just have to help himself._

_Groaning in pain, Blaine moved and finally allowed some tears to stream down his cheeks. The final bell rang for the start of first period and not many people were trickling through the courtyard now. He leaned back into the bush and whimpered in pain at the throbbing in the side of his head. His mind still swam with thoughts: thoughts of his parents, his schoolmates, Leonard, Julia, and Joshua. Especially Josh._

_**Stay strong, B. I'm always here for you. -J**_

_Lies, all lies._

_Blaine rolled out of the bush and fell behind it, his face squishing into the soft soil around it. It was so cool, so comforting to his aching head…_

_And he slipped into unconsciousness, tears still streaming down his face. _

* * *

><p><span>AN: I really thought this story was only gonna be a chapter or two, but NOOOOO! Now I'm thinking I've got about 4 good chapters left to go. Can you believe it? This is my longest on here so far! Which reminds me, I really need to go back and finish some of my other stuff from years ago, lol. Anyways, thanks to all those who reviewed last time (I love reviews *hint hint*) and hopefully I can update again tomorrow or something. Depends on my emotional state following tonight's Glee (I already jacked up my bad lung from watching the SOWK clip with Blaine being a weepy and stuff; I held my breath too long and spent the day with an aching bad lung, lol). Anyways, thanks again for the reviews and I hope you all liked this chapter!


	6. Chapter 6

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Glee, nor am I associated with it or Ryan Murphy. I am just an out-of-college daydreamer who sometimes gets into these writing funks and ends up tossing out a story after letting the idea sit in my brain for a few days!

**Sometimes You Need More Than Courage**

By: xSlythStratasfaction (formerly known as LadyStrata821)

Pairing: Kurt x Blaine (friendship only)

A/N: I decided to write this after having nothing but Klaine stuck in my mind for a week. I tried to go back and rewatch a lot of the scenes the two of them had together and then I started wondering about the mysterious Blaine and his past. That's when I thought of perhaps writing something about him (I'm pretty sure many others have done this as well; I haven't gotten around to reading many Klaine fics, so if this idea has been overdone, I apologize!). Anyways, Blaine's story will be a mix of stuff that I've seen a few of my own gay/lesbian friends go through. This story is dedicated to those friends. I hardly see or hear from any of them very much anymore, but I still think of them! This takes place between the episodes of _SEXY_ and _ORIGINAL_ _SONG_!

WARNING: There's some language in here that may be offensive!

* * *

><p>"I never… never expected him to turn on me like that."<p>

Blaine's voice was small and unfamiliar to Kurt. He was still leaning against the window, his forehead against the cool glass, gazing down at the empty courtyard. Just seeing him so broken made Kurt want to slaughter someone. Usually Kurt Hummel was able to control his emotions, but when it came down to situations such as this (one's that really shook him to the core), he always felt like fighting back- whether it be with words or actions.

This time his words took over.

"Josh never deserved a friend like you, Blaine. For him to allow that piece of shit Leonard to hurt you like that, I hope karma came back and bit him in the ass tenfold, over and over and over again. If only I could get my hands on that guy, I'd-"

He stopped when he noticed Blaine's hazel eyes go glassy. The moonlight streaming in through the window sparkled in the older boy's tear-filled orbs.

"Blaine?"

The shorter boy turned away from the window then and walked over to his bed, sitting down on it. He put his head into his hands and a soft, somewhat stifled sob came out as his shoulders shook. Kurt followed him over to the bed and wrapped his arms around the muscular boy, pulling him into his arms.

"Fuck Joshua. Fuck him and all the others."

His voice really didn't sound like him then. Kurt usually didn't curse unless he was seriously angry and at the amount of cursing he had done that evening alone, he knew he must've been incredibly pissed. Biting his lip, he pulled Blaine closed to his chest and allowed the curly-headed teen to rest his face against him.

"You never deserved that, Blaine. You never deserved any of that."

* * *

><p><em>The rest of Blaine's freshman year of high school went just as crappy as he expected it to be.<em>

_Joshua and Julia became THE power couple of the school. The track star and the hot cheerleader- a story out of a dramatic high school tv show. Just the sight of them made Blaine want to hurl (and sometimes he did). Ever since that fateful day in the school courtyard, Blaine nor Josh had spoken a word to one another. Leonard was Josh's main man now so whenever Blaine saw Josh in the halls, he went the other direction because he knew that wherever his former crush was, his tormentor would not be far behind._

_Despite the fact that Blaine spent the rest of the year being picked on by Leonard and his goons, he was still able to keep up with his school work and all his extra curricular activities. Most people were shocked that he was doing so well, especially since it was a daily occurrence to see him pushed or smacked around in the halls of the school. However, Blaine took everything with a grain of salt and pushed forward._

_**He wasn't going to allow people to bully him out of school.**_

_And that's why, on the very last day of the school year, he snuck into his house, past his parents, and went upstairs to bandage up yet another bruise he received earlier that day as an 'end of school celebration' present. He didn't want his parents to know that the bullying still went on, so like every other 'normal' day, he came home and went straight to the bathroom to tend to any fresh wounds he may have gotten throughout the day._

_For his end of year 'present', Leonard had come up behind him as he was walking down Stairwell B to his Algebra class. He didn't even realize Leonard was behind him until he felt a hard fist smash into the middle of his back. The abrupt force sent him forward and his body tumbled down the stairs. On the way down, he accidentally bumped a few other people and they shouted at him._

"_Watch out, asshole!"_

"_God, man. Just take us all out!"_

"_Way to go, Brokeback!"_

_Once he landed at the bottom of the stairwell, he tried to gather up all his books and papers that had spilled from his hands. Other students continued to file on by and as Blaine grabbed his math book off of the ground, he saw Leonard walk by with Josh, both of them chuckling to themselves._

_It broke his heart._

"_Are you okay?"_

_A voice startled him and Blaine looked up, catching the eye of a gruff looking older man. It was his literature teacher, Mr. Brown. The teacher's dark eyes were narrowed as he looked Blaine up and down. Blaine knew the older man didn't like him and he had heard through the grapevine that the man was a homophobe, but nonetheless, Blaine was still able to keep a good grade in his class. It shocked him that the man was a homophobe and still gave him good grades, but he never questioned it, afraid that he'd offend Mr. Brown and would __**then**__ start flunking his class._

_Mr. Brown took another look at Blaine and then he started back up the stairs, "Be more careful next time, Anderson. You could really hurt yourself."_

_Blaine sighed as the older teacher disappeared up the steps. He gathered up the rest of his things and went on his way to math class. He was going to be late, but it didn't matter. He took his sweet old time, especially since the middle of his spine hurt like hell and it was hard to walk without wincing in pain._

_Throughout the rest of the day, Blaine fought with the pain in his back. Once he got off his bus and limped into his house, he was truly able to see the extent of the damage that Leonard had dealt onto him. He took off his shirt and stood in his bathroom, staring at the fading bruises that covered his bare torso._

_There was a bruise under his collar bone from where Leonard had shoved him into a locker, a bruise on his hip where Riley (another jock) punched him in the side while they were walking through the hallway, and there were numerous bruises all over his arms from where Leonard and the other guys would grab at him and slam him into doors or walls._

_This last, newest bruise however stung horribly. Blaine turned around and stared at his back in the mirror. There in the middle of his back was a greenish purple mark. It was large (around the size of Leonard's fist) and it was swollen. Blaine placed his hand on it and winced as his body flinched in response to the touch._

_**He was gonna need some ice.**_

_Quietly, he slipped his shirt back on and tip-toed to the kitchen, filling up a plastic sandwich baggie with a handful of ice. In the process of applying it to his back, his mother entered the room with an empty shot glass. The two of them met eyes: dark brown to hazel, and her eyes softened immediately after she took a quick glance towards Blaine's ice laden hands._

"_What happened, baby?"_

_He stared at her, instantly scared that she was going to fret and tell his father. He knew that nothing good could come out of speaking with his dad, especially after that fateful night a few months ago when his dad came out and called him a faggot. He hadn't spoken to either of his parents since he heard them out in the hall that night, so at that moment, standing in front of his mother, he was terrified._

"_Blaine, darling. Let me see your back."_

_His voice came out low and hard, "No."_

_Maria Anderson was shocked to hear her son's voice so guarded. It sounded nothing like him, but then again, she hadn't really spoken to him since he was attacked a few months prior. She had wanted to talk to him so many times, but couldn't think of anything to say to him. Plus, after her heated discussion with her husband about their son's sexuality, she was afraid. Afraid that what her husband said was true: that their beloved son might be gay._

_She stared at her small son then and watched as he tried to skirt around her and go back to his room. He had spent a lot of time up there over the last few months, even taking his meals up there (if he ate at all). She could see the dark circles under his eyes and the way his cheeks looked sunken in. He was suffering._

"_Baby, please. Let mommy see."_

_He whispered again, "No."_

_Finally, Maria had enough. She set her empty glass down in the sink and marched up to Blaine, taking the ice pack from his hands. It shocked her how easy it was to wretch the pack out of his grip and it shocked her even worse to feel how thin he had gotten. She tugged the long-sleeved white track tee from his slender frame and gasped out loud at what she saw._

"_Oh Jesus! Blaine! Who did this to you?"_

_Tears filled her eyes as she stared down at her thin son. His eyes were guarded and his jaw was square. He wasn't going to answer her. She ran her hands over the light bruises that were all over his body. The tears started to fall._

"_Why didn't you tell me?"_

"_Why do you care?" Blaine's voice was tense and angry. When Maria looked at him, she saw the fire that burned behind his eyes. She knew what that look was for and honestly, she couldn't blame him. She had failed him as a mother. He had to have been getting picked on everyday in order to have all these bruises and not once did she notice. __**Not once.**_

"_I care, Blaine. I really do."_

"_No, you don't." He pulled away from her then and grabbed his shirt from off of the floor. The sudden movement of bending over made his spine scream out in pain and he hissed, immediately regretting the action._

"_Your back! OH MY GOD!"_

_His mother's hands were all over his bruised spine then. He whimpered in pain as she ran a hand over the raised knot on his back. "Who did this?" She was demanding now._

"_I fell. That's all."_

_Blaine was a terrible liar. As soon as the words escaped his mouth, he knew his mom wouldn't believe him. His voice had taken on another octave and it had broken, obviously proving that he was lying through his teeth… that and that he was about to burst into tears. __**God, his back hurt him so bad.**_

"_It was that Leonard boy, wasn't it? I'm calling the school!"_

_Blaine jumped, "Mom, NO! School is over! You can't call them now! They can't do anything. Summer is here. I'll be home. No one will mess with me. I'll be safe…"_

_He highly doubted he'd be safe, to be honest. Some nights, he would get instant messages from random people and they would spew homophobic slurs at him and tell him to go jump off of a bridge… things like that. He stopped chatting online then. Then he deleted his Myspace page as well as his Facebook when things got worse and more people started to say things. The only thing he used his computer for was to compose music or to watch videos. That was all._

_Sighing, he placed the ice pack back onto his throbbing spine and pushed past his mom. "I'm going to lay down. I'm tired."_

_His mother stood in the kitchen with his track shirt in her hands. She didn't fight him when he squeezed by, she didn't follow him upstairs when he left, and she didn't pick up the phone and call the school to complain like she originally wanted to. She did, however, curl up on herself and burst into tears in the kitchen, sobbing for her son and sobbing for her family. Everything was falling apart._

_As she sat in the kitchen and cried, her cellphone rang._

_Slowly, Maria lifted herself off of the floor and picked up the phone, which was plugged into the wall next to the refrigerator. "Hello?"_

"_Maria, darling, it's William."_

_She sniffled, "Yes, honey. I know."_

"_Are you crying?"_

_Mrs. Anderson bit her lip and quickly scanned her brain for a little white lie to use on her husband. One entered quickly and she threw it out, "I'm just cutting onions for dinner. You know how onions make you cry and all?"_

"_Well, put the onion into the freezer first before you slice it. It'll make the fumes not as strong." Her husband offered a simple suggestion before continuing, "Also, can you set the table tonight for three more people other than you, me, and Blaine?"_

_Maria sighed at hearing her son's name come out of her husband's mouth. He hadn't spoken of Blaine very much at all since he flipped out on her in the hallway that night._

"_Why do I need to set the table for six? Blaine doesn't eat with us, remember?"_

_Mr. Anderson huffed into the phone, "Well, he'll be eating with us tonight, Maria. I've invited Gary and Charlene over tonight."_

_Maria perked up a bit at hearing who was coming over, "Oh really? Are they bringing-"_

_She didn't have a chance to finished her question, as her husband spoke over her, "Yes, I asked them to bring Josh as well. I know Blaine will be very excited to see him."_

"_Okay, I'll get started then."_

_The two hung up and Maria wiped her eyes. She had to get started on dinner soon. Blaine's best friend Joshua was coming over and she knew that if anyone could get Blaine out of his funk, it would have to be Joshua._

* * *

><p><span>AN: Thanks to all of you who have reviewed. Whenever I get reviews, I get really excited and then I get excited enough to write. So umm, thanks again! Also, I hate being mean to Blaine. I would just like to snuggle him to my bosom and smother him with kisses. I feel so bad for picking on him, but it's essential to his story, methinks. Anyways, thanks for reading! Next chapter should be up soon… maybe, unless some family drama blows up over the weekend and I get hauled off to jail for beating people up… and that's all I have to say about that! :-D


	7. Chapter 7

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Glee, nor am I associated with it or Ryan Murphy. I am just an out-of-college daydreamer who sometimes gets into these writing funks and ends up tossing out a story after letting the idea sit in my brain for a few days!

**Sometimes You Need More Than Courage**

By: xSlythStratasfaction (formerly known as LadyStrata821)

Pairing: Kurt x Blaine (friendship only)

A/N: I decided to write this after having nothing but Klaine stuck in my mind for a week. I tried to go back and rewatch a lot of the scenes the two of them had together and then I started wondering about the mysterious Blaine and his past. That's when I thought of perhaps writing something about him (I'm pretty sure many others have done this as well; I haven't gotten around to reading many Klaine fics, so if this idea has been overdone, I apologize!). Anyways, Blaine's story will be a mix of stuff that I've seen a few of my own gay/lesbian friends go through. This story is dedicated to those friends. I hardly see or hear from any of them very much anymore, but I still think of them! This takes place between the episodes of _SEXY_ and _ORIGINAL_ _SONG_!

WARNING: There's some language in here that may be offensive!

* * *

><p>"<em>Blaine? Blaine, darling?"<em>

_Maria Anderson tip-toed into the pitch black bedroom; her dark eyes struggling to gain focus in such a darkened room. She shuffled across the plush carpet until she felt her knees bump the firm mattress of her son's bed. Carefully, she leaned down and felt around until she felt the top of her son's curly head. She rested her hand upon his cheek._

"_Blaine, sweetie, wake up and come downstairs for dinner."_

_Her son mumbled something in his sleep before he curled his body away from her. She heard him take a deep hiss of breath as he aggravated his back injury. Sighing, she reached out and patted around until she found his nightstand. She reached up and clicked on the tableside lamp, gazing down at her sleeping son._

_He looked so broken, so small._

_He was laying on his stomach, one of his legs pulled up towards his chest. One of his arms rested underneath his head and the other was stretched out over his pillow. A long line of drool stretched from his open mouth and stuck to his pillow. He looked adorable, much like he had when he was just a baby._

_The only differences between her little baby Blaine then and her teenage son Blaine now were the dark bags under his eyes and the faint bruising on his body. He looked so frail, so pathetic. It honestly hurt her to see him like that._

"_Blaine, please wake up. Please… before your father gets up here."_

_She reached out and placed a hand on his lower back, shaking it a bit, but quit when he jerked away from her violently. His body hissed again and she pulled away from him like she had just gotten burnt._

"_Oh Blaine, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to touch your back… I forgot!"_

_He didn't respond to her; just curled up into himself some more before he whimpered and started to snore again._

"_Is he ever going to get up?"_

_William Anderson's voice growled from within the doorway to the bedroom. The tall, light skinned man glared down at his sleeping son, obviously disgusted at what he saw._

"_Why is he sleeping? At this hour, no less!"_

_Maria glanced at her son before turning back to her husband, "He's not feeling very well tonight, honey. I think we should let him sleep."_

"_Like hell I will," William countered. "Gary and Charlene are waiting downstairs for him at this very moment and I will not have Blaine's laziness keep us from enjoying a friendly dinner!"_

_He pushed past his wife and shook his son rather forcefully; his hands were pressed against Blaine's back, causing the boy to jerk forward and scream out in pain._

"_Oh fuck! God damnit!"_

_Blaine practically jumped out of bed when he felt the searing hot pain enter his spine. He sat up quickly and found himself staring at both of his parents. His mother was watching him in sadness, her eyes downcast towards his lower back. His father, on the other hand, was staring at him intensely, as if he were uber pissed about something._

"_You watch your language, young man!"_

_Blaine's eyebrows raised for a second. First off, he was very confused as to why his father was having such a fit at him… and secondly, why were his parents in his room? They hadn't paid diddly squat attention to him since he was suspended from school a few months ago and now all of a sudden, they wanted to be a family again. It was just too confusing for him._

"_Why are you guys in my room?" He meant the question in all honesty, no snark, nothing. However, his father took his question as a smart-ass remark and blew up._

"_How dare you try to tell me I cannot come into your room! I pay for the fucking bills in this house and I'm not about to let my stupid good-for-nothing son try to-"_

"_WILLIAM!" Maria jumped forward then, pushing her husband out of the way. "Stop this! Blaine doesn't understand why we're in here; he's still half-asleep! Stop yelling at him!"_

_But the damage was already done. __**Stupid good-for-nothing son… **__the words repeated themselves in Blaine's head over and over again and he felt his eyes water with embarrassment and shame._

"_I don't give a rat's ass if he's half-asleep! He needs to get his ass downstairs for dinner RIGHT NOW! You hear me, Blaine? Right. Now."_

_Mr. Anderson then turned on his heel and stormed out of the room. Mrs. Anderson stared at Blaine for a moment before she expressed her opinion. "You should listen to your father, sweetie." And then she quietly followed her husband out of the room._

_Blaine just sat there on his bed, confused and upset. He didn't know what was going on, but he was honestly afraid to find out._

* * *

><p>Blaine's head was resting on Kurt's thigh now. As he talked, more tears leaked from his eyes and dampened Kurt's pant leg. The countertenor didn't mind though; just the fact that Blaine was curled up against him, practically bearing his broken soul to him, was enough to make Kurt want to offer his entire existence for Blaine to cry on.<p>

"Did you go to the dinner?"

Blaine nodded slowly and brought his hand up to rest on Kurt's kneecap. When his fingers brushed the delicate area, Kurt shuddered. The curly headed boy in his lap almost jerked upwards, scared that he had pushed a boundary or something, but Kurt was quick to stop him.

"Don't move, Blaine. I'm just-" He paused for a moment, trying to think of an excuse to give for why he trembled at Blaine's touch. "I just, uh… I'm ticklish."

He heard a soft chuckle from Blaine in response.

"Sorry I-"

"Blaine." Kurt's voice was soft. He ran his fingers through Blaine's curls, now mostly all freed from their gelled state, "Don't apologize. There's nothing to apologize for."

The shorter boy nodded.

* * *

><p><em>It had taken him a few minutes to actually roll out of bed, plus another half and hour to actually dress himself, but finally, Blaine exited his room and made his way towards the dining room.<em>

_He had no idea who his father invited over for dinner, but the last thing he was wanting was to get into another argument with his dad. He already got verbally lashed at earlier when he was jerked awake by his father and he wasn't wanting a repeat performance._

"_After this, I'm going back to bed." He whispered this to himself as he painfully tip-toed down the stairs and entered the foyer._

"_Blaine, darling, is that you? Hurry up! We're in the dining room."_

_His mother's voice sounded pained, as if she wasn't really wanting him to come into the dining room. Instead it sounded like she was just obeying her husband's orders. This hurt Blaine to think of. His mother was usually a very strong, loving woman, but as of late (especially after the hallway fight), she had morphed into this weak, backseat woman: always doing what her husband said. He didn't really want to know what was going on between his mother and father, but he was very sure that his sexuality had something to do with it._

_Sighing, he placed a hand on the handles to the double doors leading to the dining room and swung them open slowly._

"_Sorry I'm late, mother. I was just-"_

_Blue eyes._

_Blue eyes and black hair._

_Blue eyes and black hair and…__**Joshua**__._

_All the air in Blaine's lungs seemed to fly out of his body at that very moment. Sitting before him were Josh's parents… and sitting next to them was none other than Joshua himself. The dark haired boy was sipping on a glass of ice water and his blue eyes were watching Blaine intently._

_He hardly looked like the Joshua that Blaine had once been best friends with, hardly like the Joshua that Blaine had once been in love with. He was starting to look more sinister, more mean… like Leonard Addams._

_Blaine coughed violently as his body realized that he wasn't getting any oxygen whatsoever into his lungs. His mother jumped up from her spot at the table and ran over to pat him on the back. He stopped her quickly though, before she could place her hands on his back. He really wasn't wanting to feel his spine on fire again._

"_Oh, Maria, you are so right! He does look ill. Oh poor Blaine!"_

_Josh's mother, Charlene, stared at him with the same deep blue eyes that her son had. She had a napkin pressed to her lips and she seemed very concerned over the fact that Blaine was practically dry heaving in the dining room._

"_If you are going to be sick in here, you'd better go the bathroom, Blaine!"_

_His father was pointing towards the double doors, gesturing to Blaine that he should leave immediately. However, Blaine just straightened up, taking slow breaths in and out, slowly allowing his lungs to expand with the air that he had forgotten to give them earlier._

"_I'm very sorry about that," his voice came out small and meek. "I haven't been feeling well as of late."_

_He locked eyes with Joshua at that moment and the other boy downcast his gaze quickly. Upon seeing the quick glance away from his face, Blaine knew that Josh had felt something. Whether it be disgust or sadness or whatever, Josh wouldn't have turned his eyes away if he weren't feeling __**something**__._

_Slowly, Blaine walked up to his seat at the table (unfortunately right across from Josh) and sat down. He tried as best as he could not to lean his back up against the high-backed chair and instead decided to sit on the edge of his seat._

"_Blaine, your posture is horrendous. Sit up straight."_

_Hard hazel eyes stared back at his own as his father glared at him. Blaine didn't want to challenge his father, especially not after supposedly having challenged him back in his bedroom, so he carefully leaned back against his chair. Once his back touched the wooden backed chair, his body cringed, his face contorted, and a soft hiss escaped his lips._

_This expression did not go unnoticed by Josh nor his family._

"_Oh dear, Blaine. Are you alright? Something wrong with your back?" Josh's father Gary spoke up as he watched the smaller boy reach back and caress his throbbing spine._

"_I'm fine, sir. Just a sports injury, that's all."_

_His mother bristled at his comments and objected, "No, it wasn't a sports injury, Blaine. Don't lie to all of us." She turned to her husband and their guests, "Someone has been beating Blaine up at school. He came home today with a horrid array of bruises all over his body and there's a massive one on his back. It looks like the markings of a fist."_

"_Oh my!" Charlene blinked in horror as she glanced at Blaine's flushed face. "Oh honey, why didn't you tell anyone?" She then turned to Joshua, "Did you know about this Joshua?"_

_Josh shook his head no and looked down at his feet._

"_Maria, we will not talk about this at the table. This is Blaine's problem, not Charlene, Gary, or even Joshua's problem. We will deal with this." William Anderson was now glaring at his wife. He then turned his glare towards his son, who was watching Josh with a hurt expression on his face._

_Mrs. Anderson rolled her eyes at her husband, suddenly feeling more brave than she had been in previous weeks. She turned back to her guests and continued, "I think the boy who has been hurting Blaine is that nasty Leonard Addams kid. He beat Blaine up a few months ago and ever since then, I think he's been bothering Blaine more and more."_

_The sound of Leonard's name coming from his mom's mouth made Blaine sick. He heard twin soft gasps come from across the table and he looked up to find both of Josh's parents staring at one another. Gary turned towards Blaine, then towards his son, and then back to Blaine, his mouth opening and closing as he struggled to find words._

"_Leonard has been doing this to you?"_

_Blaine said nothing and just stared down at his plate. __**Oh, they were having steak and potatoes for dinner. Oh, and broccoli too! It looked delicious. **__He continued to busy himself with what was on his plate until he felt everyone's eyes boring into him. Their gazes felt like fire on his skin. He looked back up at all of them and locked eyes with Josh, finding the ocean blue orbs narrowed in his general direction._

_**Snitches get stitches…**_

_He kept his mouth shut, listening to the group of adults bicker and argue about Blaine's injuries and Leonard Addams' usually kind exterior. __**Kind exterior, my ass… **__Blaine's thoughts ran rampant with each account of abuse he had suffered at Leonard's expense._

"_I never thought that Leonard could be like that. He's at our house almost every day and he's very kind and considerate. He has wonderful manners." Josh's mother commented._

"_He's friends with Josh? Even after what happened a few months ago?"_

"_Maria! Who Josh is friends with has nothing to do with all this-"_

"_Shut up William! It does when it pertains to my son!"_

"_William, Maria, if we had known Leonard was like this, we would have never-"_

"_SHUT UP!" Josh's voice boomed over the adults in the room as he stood up from the dining table. His blue eyes were wild as he stared across the room at Blaine, who was watching him in fear. "You want to know why I'm friends with Leonard! Huh, do you?"_

_He leaned down over the table, his eyes still glaring at Blaine. "I'm friends with Leonard because I don't have to worry about him trying to make a move at me. I'm friends with Leonard because he doesn't have the hots for my body and doesn't try to catch a peek at me while I'm changing. I'm friends with Leonard beca-"_

"_FUCK YOU JOSH!" Blaine sat up so quickly that the chair he was sitting in went fumbling backwards onto the floor. It rolled up against the wall and stopped with a thud._

_It was Blaine's turn to look wild now. His hazel eyes had grown dark and wide and his mouth was pulled into a horrid, yet depressing smile. Tears were streaming down his face now as he glanced at his former best friend. There was nothing more he wanted to do than to leap across the table and rip Joshua's face off with his bare hands. He kept his composure (or at least tried to) instead and slammed his hands down onto the table._

"_FUCK. YOU. How can you sit here and spread all of this bullshit? HOW COULD YOU? I've never ONCE did any of those things to you. NEVER! And now you're gonna sit here and tell your parents and MY parents that I hit on you and all that bullshit!"_

_Joshua slammed his hands back down on the table in a challenge to Blaine, "You said you were in love with me! How the hell am I supposed to handle that? You're the only fag in the entire school and the last thing I need is for __**you**__ to take __**me**__ down with you!"_

_His words broke Blaine in two. For the gazillionth time that evening, the air left his lungs and he stood there breathless. A sob escaped his throat then as he collapsed against the table._

"_Oh Blaine…"_

_His mother reached out towards him, but was blocked by her husband. Both of Josh's parents were watching him in shock._

"_Blaine's gay?"_

"_He loves you, Josh? Honey, are you sure it's not like a brotherly love or something?"_

_Josh sneered as he answered his parents, "No. He's gay and he likes me. And if people figure that out, I'm just as good as dead. That's all Blaine's good for anyways."_

"_JOSHUA!" Maria Anderson stared at her son's former best friend in shock._

"_He's right, Maria. People don't take too kindly to fags out here in Ohio. I mean, really. He's an abomination."_

_Neither of Josh's parents nor Maria could respond to what William had said. He was staring so hatefully at his son, who was still crumpled against the table shaking._

"_We're good Christians, Maria. We go to church every Sunday, EVERY SUNDAY. Why is it that the devil has taken over our home and cursed us so?"_

_Blaine's eyes rose up to meet his father's gaze when he heard the man start to throw religion into the mix. "I'm just as religious as you are! That doesn't change just because I'm gay…"_

"_Do NOT claim yourself as a good Christian when all you are thinking about is sodomy! The Devil has turned you gay to punish us."_

_Blaine then sneered at his father, "The devil did NOT make me gay. God did."_

_This outburst awarded him an abrupt slap to the face. He stumbled backward from the force of the strike and looked up quickly to see who it was that slapped him so fiercely. At first strike, he would've imagined it was his father who had hit him, but after his cheek started to tingle in pain, he realized that it hurt a lot less than he thought it was going to. That only meant that someone else had hit him… someone smaller._

_His mother._

_She was standing in front of him, her hand still raised and tears were streaming down her cheeks. She looked back and forth from her son to her hand and after taking a long glance at her numbing fingers, she choked back a sob and launched herself into her husband's arms._

"_Oh my, what have I done?"_

_She was sobbing then into her husband's chest. Josh and his parents were standing behind the two elder Andersons, dumbfounded at what had just occurred. Blaine was just staring at his mother in shock, still cradling his stinging cheek._

"_Get out of here right now, Blaine. Right now!"_

_His father's voice echoed throughout the room as he roared commands at his scared son. His hazel eyes were once again wild with emotion and Blaine could see his upper lip twitch in anger._

"_Get out of here before I do something I may regret."_

"_Like what? Call me a faggot? Call me an abomination? OR WHAT? DO YOU NOT REGRET THAT STUFF, DAD? HUH? DO YOU?"_

_Blaine stood his ground, challenging his father. He was standing as tall as he could, glaring upwards at his dad, feeling his entire insides churn and boil in ferocity. He felt like slaughtering every single person in that room at that very moment. All he wanted to do was spill blood. All he saw was red._

"_NOTHING YOU CAN DO WILL CHANGE ME, DAD. NOTHING. I'M GAY! GAY!"_

_He kicked over a chair with all the might he had and then turned to run out of the dining room. He tripped running up the stairs and busted his knee on the corner of the steps, but even that didn't stop him. Blaine just got back up and kept on running, running until he hit his bedroom. With a strangled cry, he threw open his bedroom door and ran inside. He went straight towards the bathroom and disappeared into there, locking the door behind him._

"_FUCK THIS! FUCK EVERYTHING!"_

* * *

><p>There went the floodgates again.<p>

This time it was Kurt who was crying so fiercely. Blaine had stopped crying halfway through the story, instead just sniffling a little bit here and there as he told about how he officially came out to his parents. He almost burst into tears when he started to talk about his mother slapping him across the face, but he just sighed sadly instead and choked back whatever tears had threatened to fall.

Kurt, on the other hand, was a blubbering mess.

He couldn't believe all of the crap that had happened to Blaine over the last few years. It was enough to make Kurt want to puke; he was so disgusted. _How could someone so young have dealt with so much within the span of a couple years? And how could someone's parents be so uncaring… so heartless… so cruel?_

"Sometimes when I replay that moment in my head, I just wish I stayed in bed instead of coming down to meet my parents for dinner."

Blaine's voice was soft and scratchy, obviously strained from so much talking and so much crying over the last few hours. He was still curled up against Kurt, his head laying on the younger boy's thigh.

He continued, "I wish I would've feigned sick and just slept all night long. If I had a time machine, I would use it just to go back to that moment and change the way I came out to my parents. In all fairness, I don't think it was fair to them the way I came out and-"

Kurt's body jerked away from his, causing Blaine's head to hit the mattress with a soft bounce. The blue eyed boy sat up on his knees, looking down at Blaine in horror.

"It wasn't fair to _THEM_ how you came out? _WHAT_?"

Blaine stared at Kurt's face, noting his tear filled eyes and the tear tracks on his cheeks. "I thought that if I told them under different circumstances, things would've been different."

"Like hell they would've, Blaine! You heard them in the hallway that night. You heard how your father reacted! You heard-"

"My mother reacted differently that night than she did in the hallway, Kurt. When my dad and I started arguing about religion and everything, I knew that she was going to be conflicted. My mom is very religious, deeply so. When I said that God made me gay, I knew it had to have hurt her somehow. That's why she hit me."

"But God did make you gay." Kurt spoke this aloud, even though he didn't believe in God in the first place. He wanted to comfort Blaine somewhat.

"Yes, I suppose so." Blaine rolled his body over so that he was laying on his side and facing the wall. His red, swollen eyes stared intensely at the wall. "It's just that in my church, being gay is an abomination. That's why I questioned my feelings so much throughout my life. That's why it took me so long to actually figure out my feelings for Josh. I always thought they were feelings of admiration for a best friend or a hero, so to speak. Later on, I learned that the feelings I had were actual feelings of love… for another guy."

Kurt sat back on his bottom and pulled his knees up to his chest. He rested his chin in between his knees and closed his eyes. "Things like that are why I am not religious."

"You're not?"

"Nope," Kurt opened his eyes and trained his gaze onto the boy laying down beside him. "I don't believe in God, not after all the crap I saw throughout my life. I don't see what kind of fun it can be for some all-mighty person to mess up people's lives."

Blaine just nodded his head, but did nothing more.

"Is it bad that I feel that way?"

It was an innocent question that Blaine didn't really know the answer to. He started to pick at a loose string on his comforter while he thought of something to say.

"I mean," Kurt whispered, "I don't have any problems with people being religious, but-" He looked down at his socked feet, "I just don't believe in anything myself. I just believe we are here… and then we die."

"Whatever your beliefs are, I'm not going to judge you. You definitely _aren't_ the first person- the first _gay_ person- I've known to tell me that you don't believe in God." Blaine pulled the loose string from the comforter and tossed it over his shoulder. "I believe in God though. I believe he loves all of us, no matter who or what we are… just as long as you are a good person, you know?"

Kurt sighed, "Yeah…"

Then the two of them went silent for a while. Blaine continued to stare at the wall and Kurt continued to look at his feet. Minutes ticked away until finally someone said something.

It was Kurt.

"Did things… erm, ever get better, Blaine?"

Blaine sighed, rolling onto his back. He put his hands behind his head and stared up at the cream colored ceiling. "Eventually, Kurt. Eventually."

* * *

><p><span>AN: Once again, thanks to all my reviewers! I love you! No really, I do. I love reviews and since you give them to me, I love you too! YAY! Anyways, thanks again and I must seriously apologize for the ridiculous amounts of cursing I am using in this fic. I am writing this while dealing with a lot of family related drama, so I guess you could say that I'm taking out some of my anger on this fic, lol. But umm, yeah, anyways I'm sorry! Also, I must also say that I have no qualms against Christianity or any religion for that matter. The entire religion storyline between Blaine and his parents comes from something I saw an old friend deal with (it was tough, really tough). I mean no harm or insult to anyone who is religious or not religious. Please accept my sincerest apologies if I have offended you in anyway.


	8. Chapter 8

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Glee, nor am I associated with it or Ryan Murphy. I am just an out-of-college daydreamer who sometimes gets into these writing funks and ends up tossing out a story after letting the idea sit in my brain for a few days! I also don't own Wal*Mart, even though part of me thinks I should.

**Sometimes You Need More Than Courage**

By: xSlythStratasfaction (formerly known as LadyStrata821)

Pairing: Kurt x Blaine (friendship only)

A/N: I decided to write this after having nothing but Klaine stuck in my mind for a week. I tried to go back and rewatch a lot of the scenes the two of them had together and then I started wondering about the mysterious Blaine and his past. That's when I thought of perhaps writing something about him (I'm pretty sure many others have done this as well; I haven't gotten around to reading many Klaine fics, so if this idea has been overdone, I apologize!). Anyways, Blaine's story will be a mix of stuff that I've seen a few of my own gay/lesbian friends go through. This story is dedicated to those friends. I hardly see or hear from any of them very much anymore, but I still think of them! This takes place between the episodes of _SEXY_ and _ORIGINAL_ _SONG_!

WARNING: There's some language in here that may be offensive! ALSO, this chapter finally has some FLUFF! YAY!

* * *

><p>The silence in the room was deafening.<p>

Kurt could hear every single thing that went on around him. He heard the person in the room next door to Blaine singing along to the radio. He could hear people cheering down the hall as they watched a basketball game. And he could hear the soft, uneven breathing of the boy laying on the bed next to him.

They had been sitting in silence for several minutes now.

Originally, Kurt was afraid that Blaine had nodded off, but then he noticed the boy's hand stretch out and brush up against the cream colored wall. It seemed as if he was trying to feel for something, feel for anything. Kurt was unsure what exactly his crush was doing, but he was mesmerized by him. Finally, after another several minutes of not talking, Blaine cleared his throat and rolled over onto his stomach. Interlocking his fingers, he placed his hands underneath his chin and gazed up at the slender boy who was sitting next to him.

"You okay, Kurt?"

"Shouldn't I be asking you that question?" A perfectly shaped brow shot upwards as Kurt's glassy blue eyes stared down at him.

Blaine sighed, focusing his eyes on Kurt's socked feet instead. "I'm fine. Just a little tired, that's all."

"I'm not keeping you awake, am I?"

He looked back up at Kurt and noticed the concern looming in his friend's eyes. He laughed, "Pssh, no! If anything, I'm keeping you awake with all my jibber-jabbering."

Kurt snorted softly (_oh man, did I just snort?_), "This is not jibber-jabbering, Blaine. I don't see how you can find such a serious conversation to be just _jibber-jabbering_. And anyways, you are not keeping me awake. I wouldn't fall asleep even if you sedated me. I like talking to you, finding out more about you."

Blaine smiled and laid his head down so that his cheek rested on his hands, "So it is then. I apologize in advance if I happen to doze off during my boring storytelling."

"Why do you make jokes like that?"

The older boy chuckled, "Just trying to lighten the mood is all."

"You were just crying on my lap, Blaine Anderson. I don't find your attempts to _lighten the mood _to be very helpful OR amusing."

"Well geez, if you put it that way," Blaine huffed a bit and closed his eyes. "I'm sorry for trying to make this moment a little bit more bearable for the two of us."

"It was bearable enough for me," Kurt quipped, his gaze narrowing. "The question is: is it bearable enough for _you_?" He unlocked his legs from his arms and stretched them out, "I'm not pushing you too far, am I?"

"No, I thought I mentioned that earlier."

Kurt sighed, "I was just making sure, especially since you are trying to joke your way out of expressing your real feelings about all this."

"I wasn't trying to joke my way out of this. I was trying to lighten up the mood! God, Kurt! How many times to I have to say that?" Blaine's voice tensed up as he spoke.

Rolling his eyes, the younger teen leaned forward and placed a hand on Blaine's muscular forearm. The muscles underneath his hands moved in response to his touch and Kurt repressed the grin that tried to form on his face. "Calm down, please? I don't want to fight. I just want to sit here and talk… and to just listen."

Blaine offered no response and laid there with his eyes closed.

"Fine then, don't talk."

Once again, for the umpteenth time that night, both of the boys sat in silence. The cheers from down the hall got louder (obviously someone's team was winning) and the boy who was singing next door went from belting out notes to just randomly singing random parts of songs. The quiet was becoming horribly annoying.

Groaning, Kurt removed his hand from Blaine's arm and shrugged himself off of the bed. "I'm going to the bathroom," he muttered as his feet padded across the room. "Let me know if you want to continue talking when I come back."

* * *

><p>He had only been in the bathroom for a few minutes, but after he had washed up and exited the room, he noticed something was up.<p>

Blaine was standing over by his mini-fridge, busying himself with something on top of the fridge. Kurt snuck up behind him, curious as to what the other boy was doing. Then he smelled it, the familiar smell of crack. Well, not _crack_, but their (Kurt and Blaine's) form of crack: _coffee_.

"I thought you might want a cup of joe," Blaine whispered quietly as the coffee pot sputtered away. "I have different flavored coffee creamers in my fridge if you'd like anything to put in it. I also have cinnamon and sugar in the bin." He gestured towards a cabinet next to the fridge.

"Do you have any mocha flavored creamer?"

"Yep, I don't usually drink mocha flavored stuff, but I knew you liked it, so I picked up some just in case you ever stopped by during a break or something."

Blaine's honest admission made Kurt's heart skip a couple of beats. He watched as the shorter boy leaned down into his mini-fridge and pulled out a container of mocha flavored liquid creamer.

"You are so thoughtful, Mister Anderson. I don't know what I'd do without you." Kurt swooned in his best Southern belle accent as he grabbed up the coffee creamer and a foam cup.

"I don't know what I'd do with you either, Mister Hummel." Blaine's tone stayed exactly the same when he commented back and once again, Kurt's heart went a flutter. If his heart didn't stop beating so fast, he was sure it was going to just burst right out of his chest and fly out of the window.

"Coffee's done!" Blaine's chipper voice burst through Kurt's clouded mind and he turned around with the steaming pot of liquid energy. "For you," he offered as he poured a gracious amount into Kurt's cup. Then he poured a generous amount into his own cup and started to sprinkle a large amount of cinnamon into the cup.

"You really do need some sort of rehab for the amount of cinnamon stuff you consume."

"Same for you and your mocha," Blaine grinned as he poured a tiny bit of sugar into his drink. "And I don't use a lot of cinnamon!"

Kurt laughed as he poured a little bit of creamer into his coffee. He took a small taste test of the drink and then poured some more creamer into the mix. "You are nuts! I swear you are always munching on something with cinnamon in it! You only chew cinnamon gum… or cinnamon and mint gum. You eat cinnamon and sugar on your buttered toast. You love cinnamon rolls and cinnamon bagels! And need I remind you of that time I baked snicker doodles and you poured MORE cinnamon onto the top of them before you ate them!"

Blaine rolled his eyes and stuck out his tongue as he crossed the room to sit down on the couch. "I'm offended that you think I'm addicted to cinnamon."

Kurt offered no response. He just stood there, his body frozen in its place as his brain was too preoccupied replaying the image of Blaine's tongue sticking out of his mouth. It was perfect, pink, and sexy. Instantly, Kurt's mind went to what it would be like to have that very tongue in his mouth, brushing up against his teeth, against his own tongue. He almost shuddered until he heard Blaine's voice.

"You gonna be okay there, Kurt?"

The taller boy shook his head to clear his thoughts, "I'm just fine. Just had a bit of a black out or something. I dunno."

"A black out?" Blaine stood up from his seat at his desk and waltzed over to his friend. "Come here." He reached out a hand and placed it onto Kurt's forehead. "Well, you don't have a fever."

"Oh no, I'm not sick! I just-"

Blaine stared up at him, the few inch difference between the two of them painfully obvious as Kurt glanced down at him. The older boy offered a smile as he stepped back.

"Well, I don't know what made you _black out_, but I hope it was worth it."

_Fuck, it was like he was flirting with him or something._

Kurt rolled his eyes and climbed back onto Blaine's bed, careful not to spill any of his coffee. He watched as Blaine sat back down at his computer desk; the boy slowly took a sip of his cinnamon coffee and offered a satisfied sigh.

"How's your coffee? Oh, I'm sorry! I mean your cinnamon with a hint of coffee!"

Blaine laughed and threw a pencil at Kurt, causing the other boy to squeal as he ducked away from the pointed flying weapon. As he jerked his body away, some of the coffee that was in his cup sloshed out. "OH MY GOD!"

The hot drink splashed onto Kurt's chest, drenching the front of his shirt. The boy hissed in pain as the hot coffee burnt his chest and he jumped up off of the bed. Upon seeing the coffee spill, Blaine jumped up as well, setting his coffee down at his desk.

"OH MY GOD, KURT! I'M SO, SO SORRY!"

Kurt turned around quickly, his eyes inspecting Blaine's bed for something. "Oh thank goodness, I thought I spilled coffee on your bed!"

Blaine ran up behind the other boy and turned him back around, surveying the coffee stain on the white shirt. "Are you okay? Are you burnt? Let me see!"

The taller boy shrugged out of Blaine's grasp and set his coffee down on the nightstand next to the bed. "I'm fine, Blaine. I've spilt coffee on myself before. It'll probably burn for a couple of minutes, but then I should be good."

"But you made a noise when the coffee hit you and-" He was shushed as one of Kurt's long, slender fingers pressed themselves to his lips.

"I'm _fine_, Blaine." The lighter haired teen tugged at the wet shirt he was wearing, "I think I ruined your shirt though. I'm really sorry about that. I should've been more careful with that coffee. I almost spilled it on your bed and-"

"I should've been more careful with you. I shouldn't have thrown that pencil. I could've hit you and hurt you and oh my God, I did hurt you. You're burnt and-"

"_Blaine_!" Kurt's voice came out as a whine as he stared annoyingly at the fretting boy across from him. "I'm _fine_! Your shirt is _not_!"

Blaine rolled his eyes, "Fine. I'll get you another shirt. Don't worry about that one. I got it in a three pack at Wal*Mart." Kurt stared at him with a shocked expression that said _You shop at Wal*Mart? _But Blaine ignored it and shuffled over to his dresser, pulling out a black t-shirt instead.

"Here put this on."

Kurt did as he was told, quickly stripping himself of the coffee stained shirt he was wearing. Stupidly enough, he didn't think of going into the bathroom to change, instead he just took off his shirt right in front of Blaine.

"Oh my God, your chest is red."

_OMG, he's looking at my chest! Why didn't I change in the bathroom?_

Kurt's face turned red enough to match his chest when he noticed Blaine's hazel eyes gazing down at his smooth torso. Sure enough, the usually porcelain china white skin had angry red splotches on it. Kurt waved his hands at Blaine's face, "Stop staring! First off, it's rude and secondly, I'm _fine_!"

"But your chest is-"

"A little bit burnt. But it's not that bad, Blaine, so stop freaking out. And stop staring! You're making me feel self-conscious!"

Blaine stepped back, giving Kurt the space he desired. He glanced over towards his bathroom as a thought instantly entered his mind, "I have some burn cream. Would you like to put some on, just in case?"

Kurt frowned, "I'm fine, Blaine."

"Just in case," The shorter boy repeated and he gave Kurt his best puppy dog eyes. "Please just put some of it on. I'd feel horrible if you left your burn alone and then it got infected or something."

"It's not that bad!"

"_Please_?"

Kurt threw his hands up in the air. Blaine's damn puppy dog eyes won him over. "Fine, let me use some of it."

The other boy disappeared into the bathroom and returned a short while later with a white tube of cream. He handed Kurt the ointment and stared at him worriedly.

"How many times do I have to mention that you staring at me makes me self-conscious?"

Blaine sighed, a blush creeping across his cheeks. "I'm sorry. I just feel bad."

"Well don't. I'm just as much as fault as you are." Kurt squirted some of the thick, white cream onto his fingers and spread a thin layer over the red spots on his chest. He hissed a little as the cream burned into his skin.

"God, I'm so sorry."

"_Blaine_! You're really driving me up the wall with your apologies."

"Sorry."

"OH MY GOD!"

The countertenor stormed off into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. He continued to rub the burn cream into each of the reddened, raised spots on his chest. Finally, after making sure that each burn had been tended to, he stared at himself in the mirror.

"It's not that bad," he whispered to himself as he poked each angry spot with his fingers. "I don't know why Blaine's fretting so much."

_Perhaps he cares? He did throw the pencil that caused you to duck out of the way. Plus, he did spend a lot of time hovering over your naked chest, being a creeper and staring a lot. He sure didn't look away! _The voice that entered his head sure sounded a lot like Wes. Kurt sneered at his reflection and turned away, wanting to tug on the shirt that Blaine had given him. _Damnit, I left it in the room with Blaine!_

Grumbling, Kurt threw open the door to the bathroom and stepped out into the bedroom. He caught Blaine's mischievous eye when he noticed the hazel eyed boy holding the offending black t-shirt in his grasp.

"You forgot this."

"Obviously," Kurt snatched up the shirt and pulled it over his thin form. "Thanks for _bringing_ it to me."

"You seemed mad."

"I'm not, honestly. Just a little annoyed."

Blaine frowned, "Was I being too smothering?" Kurt shook his head no as he stared at the curls that seemed to stick up on Blaine's head.

"No, I'm just annoyed still that I ruined your shirt."

"Oh Kurt, it's just a shirt." And then, "Oh, that rhymed!"

Kurt grinned, "You, my friend, are very observant!"

"I try."

* * *

><p>The two boys finally got themselves situated enough to sit back down and enjoy their coffee. Blaine retook his seat at his desk and Kurt climbed back onto Blaine's bed, pulling his now cooled coffee to his lips. Luckily it had only cooled down a little bit so that it was at the just right temperature for drinking.<p>

"I guess the coffee really woke us both up, didn't it?"

Kurt smiled from behind his cup as he gulped down another sip of his mocha. "Well I don't know about you, but spilling hot coffee on my chest sure woke me up!"

"I'm sor-"

"_Blaine_."

"Sor-"

"You're hopeless."

"I know," Blaine sent Kurt a sad smile and leaned back into his desk chair. "But I'm still sorry."

Kurt rolled his eyes and took another sip of coffee. "If I accept your apology, will you stop?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Then I accept your apology, Blaine. Don't let it happen again."

Blaine's face brightened, "Never again. I promise!"

"Good."

Silence befell the boys again as they both sat and sipped their coffees. Kurt allowed his eyes to roam upwards from his cup; they fell onto Blaine, whom Kurt noticed was staring back at him. Hazel eyes met blue and the two of them smiled. Blaine pulled his coffee mug away from his lips and smiled genuinely at Kurt.

"I know this may be too forward to ask, but what kind of workouts do you do?"

Kurt lurched in his drink. He choked and coughed, sputtering some of his coffee back into his cup. "Wh-what?"

"Shit, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to freak you out or anything!"

"No no no! It's okay! I just-" Kurt stared wide-eyed at his crush, confused as to why the other boy was interested in his workout schedule. _Was it because I was just running around shirtless?_

"I was just wondering. You've got… uh, quite an upper body… uh, if you don't mind me saying."

Kurt's entire face turned beet red. He knew he was blushing; he could feel everything grow hot. Gulping, he sat his coffee back down on the nightstand. "Umm, thanks?" He looked around the room, at anywhere that wasn't Blaine. Finally, he settled on looking at the wall clock Blaine had hanging near the bathroom. The time was 3:24 AM.

"I uhhhh… I lift weights sometimes with Finn. That's all. I don't really do the workout thing. Sometimes I'll play one of those exercise games with Carole, but I really don't care to sweat if I don't have to."

Blaine nodded and took another sip of his coffee, "Sorry if that was too forward. I was just curious. I need to bulk up a little more."

"Why? I think your body's just fine."

_OH FUCK! How in the world did he let THAT slip out?_

Kurt threw his head into his hands, knowing damn well that Blaine was now staring at him. Slowly, he pulled a few of his fingers apart to look at the boy sitting across the room from him. As he guessed, the other boy was staring at him with wide eyes.

_As if he didn't already know that Kurt had the hots for him anyways, seriously._

Blaine smiled sincerely at the blushing boy across from him, "Thanks for the compliment. I appreciate it."

Then the silence came back. And it stayed that way for another several minutes.

* * *

><p>Kurt felt like climbing under a rock and staying there.<p>

He wondered if Blaine felt the same but then came to the conclusion that Blaine didn't because Blaine was an idiot who was so oblivious to everything that happened around him, especially when it came to Kurt and his feelings.

Goodness, so much stuff had happened within the last few hours. Kurt felt like his brain was just going to shrivel up and die in his skull from all the information overload he was taking in. First, he had a nightmare on the bus. Then Blaine offered to allow him to stay over. Then the two of them got to talking about his past. Then Burt called. Then Blaine talked more about his past. Then the two of them flirted like mad men and Kurt spilled coffee on himself and Blaine saw him shirtless. Then Blaine commented on Kurt's body and Kurt commented on Blaine's. _There were a lot of 'thens'…_

And now they were sitting there, not speaking. It was all too much!

Kurt had to break the ice. He just had to before he went nuts.

"Blaine?"

"…hmm?"

"Were you still up to talking?"

He was.

* * *

><p><span>AN: Okay so there's my attempt at Klaine fluff. I was trying to make this chapter as dark as the other ones, but it just wouldn't come out, so I imagine the next one will dip back into the angst that the other ones have dealt with. Blaine will go back into his past again within the next chapter; for this one, they just needed a break. Anyways, thanks to all my reviewers. I still love you forever and ever! Thanks for reading and please review! I love reviews and they help me get the motivation to write (I know everyone says that, but it's true mannnnnn!)


	9. Chapter 9

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Glee, nor am I associated with it or Ryan Murphy. I am just an out-of-college daydreamer who sometimes gets into these writing funks and ends up tossing out a story after letting the idea sit in my brain for a few days!

**Sometimes You Need More Than Courage**

By: xSlythStratasfaction (formerly known as LadyStrata821)

Pairing: Kurt x Blaine (friendship only)

A/N: I decided to write this after having nothing but Klaine stuck in my mind for a week. I tried to go back and rewatch a lot of the scenes the two of them had together and then I started wondering about the mysterious Blaine and his past. That's when I thought of perhaps writing something about him (I'm pretty sure many others have done this as well; I haven't gotten around to reading many Klaine fics, so if this idea has been overdone, I apologize!). Anyways, Blaine's story will be a mix of stuff that I've seen a few of my own gay/lesbian friends go through. This story is dedicated to those friends. I hardly see or hear from any of them very much anymore, but I still think of them! This takes place between the episodes of _SEXY_ and _ORIGINAL_ _SONG_!

WARNING: There's some language in here that may be offensive!

* * *

><p><em>The first weeks of summer were always the greatest.<em>

_When he was younger, Blaine would spend his summer break playing with his friends. He would spend weeks on end at Josh's house, where they would spend every lazy afternoon floating in the swimming pool talking about sports and video games. As Blaine grew older, he also began to run more in the summertime; he enjoyed the heat of the sun on his skin and how great the ice cold water tasted to his tongue, parched from running._

_This year, however, summer wasn't going to be very pleasant or eventful._

_It had been a few weeks since Blaine's official 'coming out' dinner fiasco and he had been currently hauled up in his bedroom, ignoring his family and ignoring life in general._

_Never had he felt so useless or unloved in his lifetime. After he and his parents fought that night in the dining room, he had locked himself in the bathroom and cried for hours. He cried so much that it hurt just to blink; his eyelids had grown raw from the saltwater tears. _

_Even though he had been sobbing wholeheartedly, he was still able to hear the conversations going on between his parents and Josh's family. He heard his parents __**apologizing**__ to __**Josh**__ for what had happened; they also apologized to Josh's parents for Blaine's __**behavior**__. Not once had they mentioned Josh's betrayal or the fact that Josh had become one of Blaine's bullies. It was like they imagined it to have never happened._

_They just let it go…_

_By doing so, Blaine felt himself pull away even further from his family. After he heard them go to bed that evening, he tip-toed out of the bathroom and snuck downstairs to the kitchen, grabbing up a few days supply of snacks and bottled water. The last thing he wanted to do was to have to face his parents for a while, so he decided to take things back to his bedroom so that he wouldn't have to even leave his room._

_And that's what he did: he stayed in his room._

_The first few weeks of summer, which had usually been a godsend to Blaine, were instead spent in his bedroom. Blaine laid in bed and watched television all day. Every once in a while, when he wasn't sick from disgust, he gnawed on a granola bar and had a bottle of water. That was it. His appetite seemed to have disappeared._

_It didn't take a genius to figure out that the lack of actual meals was getting to the young boy. By the second week of just relying on granola, cookies, and water, he found himself growing dizzy from the lack of vitamins he had been putting into his body. Sometimes he would find himself blacking out while he was watching tv or playing a video game. He didn't think much of it, even though he knew he was losing weight and this new weight loss combined with his previous weight loss (brought on by the stress of bullying) was causing him to become very sickly._

_Finally, near the end of the second week of hiding, Blaine came out of his room to gather more supplies. He had run low on bottled water and snacks and needed to restock._

_It was during his kitchen raid that something happened. Blaine hadn't been very physically active for several days, nor had he really eaten, so when he left his room and went downstairs to the kitchen, his body acted oddly. It felt weird to walk; he was dizzy. His eyesight was slightly blurry and his mouth was dry. He was only able to make it a couple of feet into the brightly lit kitchen when he abruptly crumpled to the floor in exhaustion; his eyes rolled back in his head and he fell into a seizure. The amount of noise he caused during his collapse roused his mother from her sewing in the craft room and she rushed into the kitchen. Originally, she believed someone had broken into her home, but when she entered the kitchen, a horrid sight befell her. She found her son's body jerking around violently on the floor._

"_Oh my Lord! WILLIAM!"_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Where am I?<strong>_

_Blaine blinked his sleepy hazel eyes open slowly as he took in the dimly lit room. His body felt sluggish and he was uncharacteristically warm. Yawning, he brought his hand to his mouth and cringed when something pulled inside of his arm. He glanced down and found himself staring at an IV line taped to his arm, coming out of his pale hand._

_**Oh God, what happened?**_

_He blinked the sleep out of his eyes again and struggled to gain focus of the rest of the room. There was a tv mounted on the wall, a reclining lounge chair in the corner, a couple bouquets of flowers in the window, and a few machines beeping happily next to his bed. He stared at the machines curiously and let his eyes travel from the wires connected to machines to where the wires were leading to: his body._

_**What the hell happened…?**_

_A soft snore brought his attention back to observing the rest of the room. He glanced to his left and saw a tiny form curled up in a chair. The person was curled up by his bed; their head laying gently on the mattress, a Bible tucked underneath their hands._

_It was his mother._

"_Mom?" The voice that slipped out was coarse and tired. Blaine almost didn't recognize that the voice that came out was his own. It definitely didn't sound like him, nor did it feel like it was his voice. It sounded like someone else, someone foreign, someone… __**broken**__._

"_Mom?" He called again and watched as the sleeping form stirred, looked around, and then sat up quickly._

"_Oh Blaine!" His mother leaned forward and pressed her lips to his forehead. She laid kiss after kiss after kiss on his hairline as she mumbled soft apologies to her son. Her fingers latched themselves in his curls and he felt wetness fall onto his forehead. __**Oh great, she's crying…**_

"_Oh my baby, I was so scared that we lost you." She pulled his rake thin body close to hers and pressed more kisses into his hair, still sobbing loudly. "You wouldn't stop shaking! I couldn't get you to stop shaking!"_

_Blaine raised an eyebrow, curious as to what she was talking about. He listened to her mourn and cry some more before he finally got sick of the fake sympathy and pushed her away. The more she cried, the more he began to remember._

_He remembered stumbling down the steps and shuffling into the kitchen. He remembered reaching into the cupboard and going to grab a bag if beef jerky when he all of a sudden felt weak. He had felt a strange shiver run up the base of the his spine into his brain and then everything jerked forward and crashed to the ground._

_That was all he remembered, minus a bit piece of people hovering over him and talking. Other than that, he really didn't remember much else._

_However, sitting here now, listening to his mother- the exact same woman who had slapped him not just two weeks before, now crying over his health- it just made him sick._

"_Why are you here?"_

_He was staring up at her with those same hazel eyes her husband had. However, Blaine's were more emotional, more hurt, and definitely more __**lost**__. He seemed so annoyed that his mother was in the room, crying over his well-being, when just weeks ago, she had practically spat in his face by apologizing to Josh of all people about the fight that occurred during dinner._

_Groaning, Blaine tore his eyes away from his mother's teary face and looked back down at his IV laden hands. "Why am I in here? I want to go home."_

"_Honey," his mother was holding one of his hands now, "you're on fluids. You were dehydrated and you went into a seizure. You weren't nourishing your body properly and it finally just shut down. You've been out of it for the last two days. We were so scared."_

"…_we?"_

_Blaine didn't miss the plural at all. He saw his mother in the room, but he didn't see anyone else. His eyes took another sweep of the room before he turned back to face his mom's dark eyes._

"_I don't even know why you guys even bother."_

"_Oh baby," he felt his mother's hand leave his as she stood up and pulled him gently into her arms. Long ago, Blaine would've loved to have been pulled into an embrace by his mom, but at that very moment, he would have rather hugged a flaming cactus. "Your father and I are very, very sorry about all this. We-"_

"_Mother, I can't-"_

"_Please honey, just listen-"_

"_Just leave, mom. Please just go." Blaine pushed his mother away forcefully and looked up at her with watery hazel orbs. "I don't even care to hear your excuse. Just leave."_

_He watched as she opened her mouth to argue, but he beat her to the punch and started yelling. Tears started to fall freely down his cheeks as he yelled for his mother to leave the room. All he wanted was to be alone. He didn't want his parents false apologies or their feigned concern. All he wanted was to curl up and cry._

_Was that too much to ask?_

* * *

><p>"Was she really expecting you to be all '<em>OMG MOM I LOVE YOU<em>?'"

Kurt was leaning back against the wall, his fingers crossed over his stomach as he watched Blaine with an amused gaze. Honestly, as unfunny as the entire situation was with Blaine's hospital stay was, he really couldn't find any way to understand the Anderson parental units whatsoever. He raised an eyebrow at Blaine when he saw the shorter boy stand up from his chair and make his way across the room.

"Where are you going?"

Blaine smirked as he stopped in front of the coffee pot, "To get a refill. Where'd you think I was going?" He sat his coffee cup down, glanced at the door, and acted like he was about to run out of the room. This earned him a bitchy glare from the blue eyed boy across the room and he grinned.

"Do you want a refill?"

Kurt gazed down at his empty cup of joe and nodded. "I'd love some more if you don't care."

The two boys went on to make second cups of their specified coffees: cinnamon for Blaine and mocha for Kurt. Then they settled back into their seats. Kurt took a sip of his drink and watched as Blaine drummed his fingers on his desk.

"To be honest," the older Warbler muttered, "I think my mom was expecting me to be all excited to see her there and stuff, you know? She had ignored me for so long and then when I woke up and saw her there, I think she was hoping that I'd forgive her and all would be well."

"I really hope you didn't forgive her that easily."

"Oh don't worry," Blaine commented as he sipped his coffee. "I didn't. I didn't really forgive anyone for a while."

* * *

><p><em>Blaine was excited to be home from the hospital, but he was also sad that he had to leave… if that made any sense.<em>

_Being in the hospital allowed him to spend a lot of time alone and reflect on things. Sure, he had been alone those few weeks he had hauled himself up in his room, but that was different. At home, he was bombarded with having to hear his parents moving around the house (yet ignoring him completely) and he was surrounded by pictures of his happy past when he was friends with Josh still and his parents actually loved and accepted him._

_His stay in the hospital allowed him to be alone with his thoughts without having to deal with his parents. All he had to do was to tell one of the nurses that he wanted to be left alone and his parents stayed away. Without them there (luckily they complied to his requests, believing that he would eventually forgive them), Blaine was able to focus more on himself getting better. The IV fluids he was on were slowly phased out and he was started on a solid diet again. He found himself putting on a little more weight and he felt a bit more energetic now that he was eating again. Overall, things felt a little bit better for him physically._

_It was the emotional aspect that was still messing with him._

_One of the biggest things that got to him came in the form of a bouquet of flowers he saw sitting by the window sill. One day, as he got out of bed to look out of the window, Blaine noticed a bouquet of white carnations (one of his favorite flowers). He lifted them up to his nose, smelled them, and then pulled a tiny blue and white card from the bouquet. Part of him faintly recognized the handwriting on the envelope, but he couldn't place the writing, so he opened the card to see who the flowers were from._

_**Get better soon, Blaine! Much love - Gary, Charlene, and Joshua**_

_Upon seeing whom the flowers were from, Blaine's grip on the card slackened and the card slipped from his fingers to the floor. Why would they send him a get well soon bouquet? Why did they even care? _

…_**Why?**_

_The dark haired boy leaned down and picked up the fallen card, glancing at the pretty lettering on it. Most of the writing on the card was made out from Charlene's precise cursive, however, both Gary and Josh's names were signed differently. Blaine knew the family long enough and well enough to know each and everyone's handwriting; it seemed that Charlene was able to get both her husband and her son to sign the get well card. He stared at the piece of paper for minutes, his mind racing with the thought that Josh had actually signed the card for him._

_**I still care about him…**_

_It hurt his heart to think about it all, really. Josh and Blaine had been best friends since they were just toddlers. Their fathers worked together at a law firm and their mothers became best friends who decided to hold play dates for their growing sons at each other's houses. It was inevitable that Blaine and Josh would become the best of friends: an inseparable pair._

_They truly were inseparable… or at least they were until Blaine's secret came out._

_They loved each other, as best friends do. If one was hurt, the other one felt it. If one cried, the other did too. If one boy was in trouble, the other one would step it up and defend his friend (Josh was the one always doing the defending though). They just cared about one another. Later on, Blaine's caring developed into something more._

_Before Blaine had fully accepted that he was gay, he started to have these lingering feelings for his best friend. The feelings frightened him a little bit; as time went on, however, he began to realize that he actually cared a lot about Josh… and not in a brotherly, mentor sort of way. Yeah, Josh was like his protector (he was quick to step in and take up for Blaine in a fight, especially when they were little and kids would pick on Blaine for his curly hair and small stature), but as time went by, Blaine knew that he cared about Josh quite a bit and not just because Josh watched out for him._

_He wanted Joshua to be that guy that he saw in the movies. The guy who would sit with him on the couch and hold him during scary movies. The guy who would make him breakfast and would stare at him lovingly as they ate. The guy who would throw his coat over a rain puddle and allow him to walk over it (okay, maybe not that dramatic, but he wanted something __**special**__ with Josh, not just a friendship). He was in love with his best friend._

_And his best friend hated him for it…_

_So, for Blaine to be standing there in that hospital room, staring at a card that had been signed by the guy he still slightly cared for… it really hurt. Especially since the guy that he cared so much about was one of the main contributing factors as to why Blaine was even in the hospital in the first place. Sure, he was the one who chose not to eat and was the one who ultimately made himself so sickly, BUT it was Leonard Addams and JOSH who had ran his self-esteem and his will to live straight into the ground._

_Sighing quietly, Blaine set the card back into the flowers and stared back down at the white, fluffy blooms. He didn't notice the footsteps that came up behind him._

"_So you finally decided to look at your flowers?"_

_Blaine jumped, startled from the voice, and turned around to face a tall, slender blonde nurse. She was wearing scrubs with Disney princesses on them and her face was lit up with a knowing smile._

"_Some boy brought those flowers in while you were still sleeping. He seemed very sad, so I told him that he could go in and see you if he wanted, but he just asked me to put these in here for you."_

_A lump formed in Blaine's throat as his mind raced with questions. Was it Josh who had came to bring the flowers? No, it was probably some random flower delivery guy…_

_The nurse placed a hand on the short boy's shoulder and looked at the flower arrangements lined up on the window sill, "I don't know if that guy was your classmate or anything, but he had on a letterman's jacket." She pointed over towards the recliner chair in the corner that housed Blaine's letterman jacket, "It was like that one, except his said something like James or Jackson or-"_

"_Joshua?" Blaine's brows rose and his voice came out hopeful._

"_That's it! Joshua!" The nurse grinned, "That's what his name was! He handed me these flowers and he looked so sad. I think he felt bad that you were in the hospital. When I took the flowers from him, he asked me if you were alright and I told him you were resting and on fluids."_

"_Then what did he do?"_

"_Well, he was frowning and he glanced at your room like he wanted to go in, but he didn't. He ended up leaving and going back down the hall to where a few of your other schoolmates were."_

"_Other schoolmates?" Blaine felt his face grow hot as his mind raced to figure out who else came with Josh. His body grew cold when he started to imagine the others who may have came with his ex-best friend._

_The nurse noticed his tenseness and bit her lip, fearing she may have said too much. She took her hand off of the thin boy's shoulder and went to move out of the room when she heard him ask quietly._

"_Was there a tall, blonde jock-ish looking guy with him?"_

_The nurse looked up thoughtfully, allowing her brain to replay the moments of the previous day in her head. She remembered the dark haired, light eyed boy disappearing down the hall towards the elevators and meeting up with another guy and a girl. Her mind flashed with thought, "Why yes, one of the people he was with was a blonde guy and a dark haired girl. I think the other two were too scared to come see you."_

_Blaine's stomach turned and knotted as he imagined Josh, Leonard, and Julia entering the hospital. He could only imagine what kind of things Leonard was saying as they entered the hospital and he could imagine Julia laughing at everything he said._

"_**Looks like that stupid faggot put himself in the hospital this time."**_

"_**Leonard, you're so mean!" Giggles.**_

"_**Let's hurry up so I can drop off these stupid flowers my parents insisted on sending. I don't want that queer to see me and try to confess his love again."**_

"_**I totally understand why he'd want you though, baby. You're hot!" Giggles again.**_

_Sure, the conversation may not have gone like that, but with the way the three of them treated him over the last few months, Blaine was pretty sure those words came out of them exactly how he imagined it. With his fists clenching, Blaine felt his jaw lock up in anger. How dare Josh bring those two to the hospital with him! How dare he!_

_The nurse had sensed Blaine's distress and placed her hand on his back, "Mr. Anderson, perhaps you should sit down?"_

"_No, I'm fine," he grumbled as he stared at the carnation bouquet once more._

"_I think it would be for the best, honey." The woman was staring at him with concern flashing in her eyes. She led him to the recliner and sat him down before she pulled another chair up close to him. She placed a hand on his knee. "Those kids… they aren't your friends, are they?"_

_Tears brimmed in his eyes now as he stared up at the nurse's soft brown eyes. "No, no they aren't. They are the reason I'm here in the first place."_

"_Oh dear, I'm so sorry. If I had known I wouldn't have-"_

_The hazel eyed boy raised his hand, stopping the nurse from talking. "No, no. It's alright. I just-" he took a deep breath and let a few of the tears fall. "I just want to go home."_

_The nurse smiled sadly as she patted Blaine's knee, "I believe we're going to discharge you tomorrow, actually. You've been showing significant improvement over the last few days and since you've started eating again, I believe we can send you home soon."_

"_Really?" Blaine's eyes were sparkling, from both his tears and from the hope that he could just go home._

"_Yes. I believe you can go home tomorrow."_

_Blaine reached up and brushed the remaining tears from his eyes and glanced out the window into the morning sky. He barely noticed when the nurse got up from her seat and left the room, he was too busy staring out at the clouds. His mind raced with the thoughts of the things he was going to do when he got home. He wasn't going to lounge around and pity himself anymore. _

_He had a whole summer of growing up to do. He wasn't going to be the same old Blaine Anderson who let people walk all over him and who let people tear him down. He was going to be stronger, smarter, and __**better**__._

* * *

><p><span>AN: Well this chapter was a bitch to get out (sorry for the language). I've been so tired over these last few days that anytime I would start to write, I would fall asleep on myself. That's why it has taken me so long to update. I'm hoping to maybe put up another update otherwise tonight or tomorrow, but we'll see. I'm getting tired just writing this author's note! Ha! Anyways, any reviews are appreciated! And thanks again for the previous reviews and favorites! I'm hoping to at least hit 100+ reviews before this things dies off in, like 3-4 chapters… hopefully!


	10. Chapter 10

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Glee, nor am I associated with it or Ryan Murphy. I am just an out-of-college daydreamer who sometimes gets into these writing funks and ends up tossing out a story after letting the idea sit in my brain for a few days! I also do not own Michael Jackson, even though I wish I did because if I had owned him years ago, we would've been married (and that's all I have to say about that).

**Sometimes You Need More Than Courage**

By: xSlythStratasfaction (formerly known as LadyStrata821)

Pairing: Kurt x Blaine (friendship only)

A/N: I decided to write this after having nothing but Klaine stuck in my mind for a week. I tried to go back and rewatch a lot of the scenes the two of them had together and then I started wondering about the mysterious Blaine and his past. That's when I thought of perhaps writing something about him (I'm pretty sure many others have done this as well; I haven't gotten around to reading many Klaine fics, so if this idea has been overdone, I apologize!). Anyways, Blaine's story will be a mix of stuff that I've seen a few of my own gay/lesbian friends go through. This story is dedicated to those friends. I hardly see or hear from any of them very much anymore, but I still think of them! This takes place between the episodes of _SEXY_ and _ORIGINAL_ _SONG_!

WARNING: There's some language in here that may be offensive!

* * *

><p>"Let me guess! You went home, bulked up, and went back to the school and kicked Joshua's ass?"<p>

Kurt's eyes flashed as he stared at the dark haired boy sitting across the room from him. To be honest, Kurt was actually hoping that Blaine at least did _some_ damage to the asshole who had betrayed him and practically made his entire freshman year a living hell. However, his thoughts immediately dampened when he remembered that he and Blaine were both sitting in a dorm room at _Dalton Academy_, the school with a zero tolerance bullying policy. Thus, _something else _must've happened to make Blaine come here.

Kurt shut his trap then, instantly feeling foolish.

"I guess you realized what you said, hmm?" Blaine asked, a curious glint in his eye. "It's alright. Don't worry about it."

The younger boy flushed, looking down into his empty coffee cup, "I should've kept my mouth shut. I'm sorry."

"Nah, I said it's alright. I would've hoped the same thing too if you were telling me something like this." Blaine stood up from his desk and walked into his bathroom, setting his dirtied coffee cup into the sink. "You were right about one thing though… I did go back and bulk up."

"Really?" Kurt's blue eyes sparkled as he stared as his best friend in awe.

"Well, I tried to. I don't get buff easily."

Kurt huffed, "You seem pretty buff to me. Not too buff like a 'roid raged athlete or anything, but still muscular where it counts." _Shit, he had said too much._

Blaine's face turned beet red as he shuffled back into the bedroom, "Umm, thank you?" He sat down on the air mattress and crossed his legs under him, still not making eye contact with the boy sitting on his bed.

"I'm sorry about that. I must be the king of awkward responses tonight or something," the countertenor mused as he gnawed on his lower lip nervously. "I think I'll keep my mouth shut for the rest of the night."

"Don't do that," hazel eyes looked up and met blue, "I'd go crazy if I just sat here all night long and talked to only myself." He offered Kurt a cheesy smile, which the boy accepted and returned easily.

"Fine, but if I say anything else dumb, will you let me know?"

"Of course."

* * *

><p><em>Blaine rolled over and looked at his alarm clock. The red, glowing numbers read 4:56 AM. Grumbling, the boy pulled his comforter over his head and snuggled down deep into his mattress, wishing that sleep would reclaim him soon. Instead, he tossed and turned for another half an hour before he finally rolled out of bed and left his room. Quietly, he tip-toed down the staircase and down the hall until he reached the kitchen.<em>

"_Hmm, what to eat, what to eat, what to eat…?"_

_He padded around the room, opening up cabinet after cabinet, looking for something to have for breakfast. After finding nothing there, he threw open the fridge doors and grinned when he noticed a package of sausage patties and a new carton of eggs sitting on the shelf._

"_Eggs and sausage it is!"_

_He whipped out a frying pan and sprayed it with a little bit of cooking oil, then cracked a couple of eggs into a cup and scrambled them. As he cooked, he started to hum, reaching over and turning on the kitchen radio (which had been installed under one of the cabinets). As ironic as it was, Michael Jackson's __**Beat It **__was playing. Just the song and the fact that he was currently scrambling some eggs in a cup made Blaine grin like an idiot and he started to dance around the room, belting out the chorus at the top of his lungs._

_His fun was short lived, however, when he heard some loud coughing behind him._

"_Blaine Christopher Anderson, what in the hell do you think you're doing? It's 5:30 in the morning and you're down here screeching like a banshee and trying to burn my house down!" His father stood in the doorway to the kitchen, his hazel eyes dark with annoyance. "Turn that radio off right now and go back to bed!"_

"_I couldn't sleep, so I thought I'd make myself some breakfast," Blaine countered. He reached over and turned the radio down until the song was just a faint whisper in the air. "I thought I'd go running today… help get my mind off of things."_

_He didn't miss it when his father rolled his eyes at him. William Anderson really hadn't been the greatest of supporters when Blaine had arrived home just days earlier. While Maria had fawned over her tiny son, William had just stood in the background with his arms crossed and eyes narrowed. He had hardly spoken a word to Blaine in the last few days and what he had just said to the boy was the most he had said to him in quite some time._

_Blaine smirked as his dad left the room and went to retreat back to bed. He definitely wasn't going to be taking crap from his parents anytime soon, especially when his mood had lifted so much. He knew that if he allowed his parents to make him feel like crap again, he'd fall right back into that dismal abyss that had filled his life just weeks prior._

_Blaine needed to change, he needed the change, he needed to get away from it all._

* * *

><p><em>Running was just the release he needed.<em>

_Blaine jogged up the steps to his front porch and stretched his limbs out, feeling his bones crack and his muscles pull as he leaned his body from side to side. Once he felt everything was well worked, he stepped into his house and took off his shoes, leaving them on the mat beside the door._

_A voice startled him, "Oh baby, there you are!"_

_He turned around and saw his mother exciting the kitchen, her hands full with a tray of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. The smile on her face made Blaine cringe and he took a step backward. Anytime she had a look like __**that**__ on her face, that meant that she wanted to talk and usually, it wasn't about something good._

_He could still remember her coming to him years ago when she told him about how his cat Whiskers had been hit by a car. She had that same sad, creepy smile spread across her face. He also remembered the time she came into his room with a glass of lemonade, same sad smile, and told him about his grandfather's terminal cancer._

_It was always something bad when she came to him like that._

_Instantly, he wanted to run away, to put his shoes back on, and take off out the door and down the street. He almost turned on his heel and ran upstairs, but stopped when he felt her hand on his arm. She was gripping his wrist rather tightly and she held the tray of cookies out towards him._

"_Come to the living room, Blaine. Please?"_

_He raised his eyebrows at her, his stomach churning as he let her lead him to the living room. She walked slowly in front of him and then stopped, pulling his wrist forward and slightly pushing him into the living room._

_He could see why she was so hesitant with him earlier._

_Sitting on the couch, sipping on a glass of milk, was none other than Josh._

* * *

><p>"You've GOT to be kidding me!" Kurt sputtered, his eyes wide as he stared down at Blaine. The older boy shrugged and nodded.<p>

"I wasn't expecting to see him either."

Kurt's blue eyes narrowed as he set his empty cup down on the desk next to him, "That boy must've had a LOT of nerve to come creeping back into your house after what he did to you! I know you practically denied it earlier and that this is probably a ridiculous statement, but did you kick his ass then? Please tell me you did."

"I wish I did…"

"But you didn't-" Kurt didn't say anymore. He knew he didn't have to. Joshua was Blaine's first love and deep down, Kurt knew that Blaine had never lost his feelings towards the asshole, even though that piece of crap had practically ruined his life.

"Every time I tried to kill my feelings for Josh, something always came back and brought me back to liking him again. It wasn't like I liked him a lot, like I used to. I just felt that familiar pang of want every time I saw him. I wanted him to be my friend again. I wanted him to love me like I loved him. I wanted him to apologize."

"Did he apologize?"

Blaine was quiet.

* * *

><p>"<em>What the fuck are YOU doing here?"<em>

_His blood was boiling as he stood in the doorway to the living room, staring at the cocky blue-eyed boy sitting on his couch. Josh set his glass of milk down on the coffee table and stared back at Blaine with the strangest look on his face. He looked somewhat sad. That or he was trying to fool the hell out of Blaine to make him think that he was actually feeling guilt over what he had done._

"_Blaine, darling, please hear him out." His mother's voice was tiny and quiet. She stepped past him and set the tray of cookies down next to Josh's milk glass and gave the seated boy a slight smile. When Blaine saw her flash his ex-friend a grin, he felt his insides explode in betrayal._

"_Don't smile at him, mother! He's made my life a LIVING HELL! How can you smile at him?"_

_Maria Anderson stood up straight as she glanced back at her angry son. She walked across the room quickly and pulled the short boy into a hug. Her lips pressed against his cheek before getting close to his ear. She whispered, "Just give him a minute, please darling. There are some things he'd like to say to you and I really think you should hear what he's got to say."_

"_I don't care what he has to say. Fuck him."_

"_Blaine." Her voice lowered, as did her glare. "Watch your language and just do what I say, alright?"_

_He didn't bother to listen to her. The curly haired boy turned on his heel, rushing up the stairs towards his bedroom. His heart pounded so loudly that the only thing he could hear was it bursting in his ears. His entire body trembled in fear when he remembered that Josh had been to visit him at the hospital with Leonard and Julia. Were they there now? Were they hiding in his house somewhere, ready to kill him? Had they held his mother hostage and were they using her as a diversion so that they could kill him instead?_

_Why did this have to happen now? He was doing so well! No distractions! Nothing!_

_Blaine threw himself onto his bed and curled himself into a ball. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't think. He couldn't move. Josh was still downstairs, probably charming the pants off of his mother and there was nothing he could do._

_His parents adored Joshua, even after the boy had practically destroyed their own son. There wasn't anything Blaine could do to keep Josh out of his life. Nothing._

_With a stifled sob, Blaine grabbed a pillow and pulled it over his head, covering his now tear streaked face._

"_Oh God, why? WHY?"_

_He prayed that it was all a dream. That he'd wake up and Josh would be gone. That he'd fall asleep and get up the next day and find out that this incident was just a nightmare he had conjured up after he came home from running. He would have given anything at the moment to just be somewhere else. Anywhere else. Anywhere but in his own home with his deceptive parents and his second worst enemy._

_His mind continued to run rampant with prayers and thoughts; he was sobbing so loudly now into his pillow that he couldn't hear anything else inside or outside the room._

_He definitely hadn't noticed the door to his bedroom creak open and a tall, muscular brunette enter his room. He didn't notice the boy hovering over his bed, dead eyes gazing down at the curled up form in the middle of the mattress._

_He did notice the weight that caused his mattress to tilt though. And he definitely felt the strong hand that pressed itself onto his shoulder._

"…_Blaine?"_

* * *

><p><span>AN: Oh no, not another cliffhanger! Sorry guys, but I've gotta stop there. Don't worry though, I hope to have another update up very soon! Also, if you guys haven't noticed, I have two new stories up in the Klaine fandom. So, if you are bored or anything and want to read something, they're on my profile! OH, and thanks to all those who left reviews last chapter! I'm halfway near my goal of 100+ reviews! I think this story has the most reviews I've ever gotten on a story, lol. Anyways, thanks again! Also, if you want to watch an awesome Klaine video, go to Youtube and type in 'When Kurt Met Blaine'. It's hands down one of the best Klaine vids out there (and whoever made it gets kudos from me because I love it!) :D


	11. Chapter 11

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Glee, nor am I associated with it or Ryan Murphy. I am just an out-of-college daydreamer who sometimes gets into these writing funks and ends up tossing out a story after letting the idea sit in my brain for a few days!

**Sometimes You Need More Than Courage**

By: xSlythStratasfaction (formerly known as LadyStrata821)

Pairing: Kurt x Blaine (friendship only)

A/N: I decided to write this after having nothing but Klaine stuck in my mind for a week. I tried to go back and rewatch a lot of the scenes the two of them had together and then I started wondering about the mysterious Blaine and his past. That's when I thought of perhaps writing something about him (I'm pretty sure many others have done this as well; I haven't gotten around to reading many Klaine fics, so if this idea has been overdone, I apologize!). Anyways, Blaine's story will be a mix of stuff that I've seen a few of my own gay/lesbian friends go through. This story is dedicated to those friends. I hardly see or hear from any of them very much anymore, but I still think of them! This takes place between the episodes of _SEXY_ and _ORIGINAL_ _SONG_!

WARNING: There's some language in here that may be offensive!

* * *

><p>"…<em>Blaine?"<em>

_The hand that was squeezing the smaller teen's shoulder moved upward and slowly pried the pillow from his iron grip._

_Josh sat before him, his blue eyes staring down at Blaine sadly. He looked absolutely wretched; his hair had grown out and was hanging shaggily around his face. Stubble formed on his usually baby's bottom smooth jaw line and he had dark circles under his eyes. He looked just as bad as Blaine did and from what the other boy could tell, he was probably faring pretty badly emotionally as well._

"_Just go, Josh. Please. I don't want to do this anymore."_

"_Can't I just talk to you? Just for a little bit?" Josh's voice was soft and scratchy, as if he was on the border of bursting into tears._

_Blaine could barely see his face due to the blurriness of his tear filled eyes, but he knew something was going on within Josh. Why in the world would the boy be so close to him after all that shit that had went down just weeks ago? Why was he here? Why did he want to talk?_

_As his mind raced, Blaine felt himself pulling away. First his body started to push itself backwards against the headboard of his bed. Then his legs threw themselves over the side of the bed and pulled himself across the room towards his private bathroom. It was like he didn't have any control of his body. His fight or flight senses had taken over and they had obviously chosen flight._

_He ran into the bathroom, tears streaming down his cheeks, and he slammed the door shut quickly, locking it from behind._

"_Blaine, please! Hear me out! Blaine!"_

_He could hear Josh's cries. The other boy started to pound on the door frantically, his voice raising as he begged and pleaded with his ex-friend to open the bathroom door and let him in. Blaine wasn't about to budge though. Not now, not after all this._

_Images raced through his mind of the things Josh had done over the last few months. From when he first allowed Leonard to punch him in the head to the night Josh had outed him to everyone at the dinner table, he just couldn't accept any form of apology from the guy now. He didn't want to get hurt again._

_His last hospital stay had cemented the fact that he and Josh were over with. They couldn't be friends if Joshua couldn't be trusted and the fact that the boy had brought both Julia and Leonard with him to the hospital only proved that Josh didn't give two shits about Blaine's well-being. He could have easily came alone or even with his parents, without his lackeys in attendance. But instead he chose to bring with him the one person that had tortured Blaine for years, the one who had pushed Blaine to the point of breaking._

_And that just couldn't be forgiven._

_With a strangled cry, Blaine tucked himself up into a ball and rocked back and forth against the bathroom wall. It was pitch black in the room as he hadn't bothered to turn the lights on before he fled into the room, but he could see the soft light coming in from underneath the door. Josh was still out there…_

_And he was crying._

"_Blaine, please. I'm so sorry. Please listen to me."_

* * *

><p><em>Hours had passed and Blaine was still locked up in his bathroom.<em>

_Josh had sat outside of the door for a few hours, sometimes crying and sometimes shouting. He pounded on the door so much that Blaine was afraid it was going to give way and the other boy would be able to get in. For a while, Blaine had even held his body flush against the door, hoping that it wouldn't completely fall off the hinges during Josh's beat downs. Luckily though, the door held and after a while, Josh gave up and resigned to just sitting up against the door._

_He still begged for Blaine to let him in though, but the smaller teen didn't budge._

_Things grew tired after a while. Blaine could hear Josh yawning in his room and every once in a while, he yawned as well. He was hoping Josh would just get up and leave soon because he was wanting to crawl into his bed, curl up in the covers, and cry himself to sleep. However, plans changed and Josh was still sitting outside the bathroom door. So, grumbling in annoyance, Blaine stood up from his post by the bathroom door and grabbed a couple of towels out of his linen cabinet. He threw two large beach towels down onto the floor and laid down on them. The coolness of the tiled floor came up through the makeshift bed, but it wasn't enough to make Blaine want to leave the bathroom._

_He laid on the floor for another hour before finally drifting off to sleep…_

* * *

><p><em>There was a soft rustling outside the door.<em>

_The curly haired boy laying on the floor opened his eyes and sat up, stretching his aching body as he stood up from the floor. He looked around the dark room, immediately registering it as his bathroom, and the events from before flashed through his mind as he remembered why he was in his bathroom in the first place._

_Slowly, he crept towards the door and leaned against it, listening closely to figure out what in the world the commotion was in his bedroom._

_As he pressed his ear to the door, he heard someone breathing up against the other side. "Who's there?" He called softly, hoping it was anyone but Josh._

"_It's your mom, Blaine. Please come out."_

_Blaine closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against the door. He started to wonder if his mom was trying to trick him to come out of the bathroom so that Josh could ambush him. With a soft sigh, he questioned, "Is Josh still here?"_

"_No, sweetie. I sent him home a while ago."_

"_Do you swear? Do you swear on your life… on the Bible?" He didn't really want to bring religion up into the conversation because he remembered what happened the last time Christianity got thrown into the mix, but he just had to ask. He knew his mother would get serious if he mentioned the Bible._

"_I would never swear on the holy book, Blaine. You know that."_

"_Then are you lying to me, mother? Is he still here?" Blaine pressed himself against the door to see if he could hear any soft whispering between his mom and anyone else; he heard nothing._

"_I give you my word, Blaine. He is not here. Please come out."_

_Blaine whimpered, "I don't believe you. You let him in even after what he did to me. You betrayed me, mom. I don't know if I can trust you anymore…"_

_He heard his mother sigh from the other side of the door, "He wanted to apologize to you, sweetie. He came here while you were out running and he looked so sad and wanted to come in. I couldn't just leave him out there. He's just a young, confused kid. These feelings you have for him just scared him, that's all."_

_Blaine tensed upon hearing his mother defend the guy who had tore him apart emotionally. "I'm a young, confused kid as well! You think these feelings of mine aren't scary? I'm terrified, mom! Terrified!" He started to cry again. "Everyone wants to hurt me. No one cares if I'm getting the shit beaten out of me! My own parents think I'm an abomination! …I don't know what to do anymore!"_

_His mother started to cry as well; he felt her body lean up against the door. "Oh sweetheart, I know this is hard for you, but you need to understand that it's just as difficult for everyone else. We're all struggling here-"_

_He tuned her out then. She just didn't understand. She didn't get it that their lack of support was killing him. She didn't understand that by letting Josh come back, she was opening up that nasty can of worms that he thought he would've at least been rid of until school started up again. His parents were breaking him down… slowly but surely._

_And Blaine didn't know what to do._

"_Mom, please leave. I need to be alone."_

_A resigned sigh came from the other side of the door, "Fine. But if you need to talk, your father and I will be downstairs." And then, after a few moments of quiet, she left._

_Blaine waited a few minutes before he slipped out of his bedroom; he cautiously tip-toed out and poked his head around the room, looking for any sign of Josh or his parents. Luckily, there was no one around. Quietly, he crept up to his bedroom door and shut it behind him. Then he threw himself onto his bed._

_It was just after midnight and the entire Josh ordeal had really only lasted several hours, but Blaine was exhausted, emotionally and physically. He curled up into his pillows and allowed himself a few good sobs before he finally slipped into a dreamless sleep._

* * *

><p>"I really don't want to ask this because I think I may know the answer, but did Josh ever come back?"<p>

Blaine looked up at Kurt's question and saw the anger burning behind his friend's eyes. When Kurt was angry, Blaine noticed that his eyes flashed different hues of color. One moment they were a brilliant blue, then a stormy grey, followed by a pale green. At that time, they were cloudy and dark… like thunderstorm clouds. Just the intenseness behind the stare caused Blaine's breath to hitch in his throat.

_Kurt's getting angry… for me._

In fact, the more Blaine thought about it, that night Kurt had went through a lot of emotions in his honor. He saw the boy cry for him, watched him feel sad for him, and saw him feel anguish when Blaine told him of the physical abuse he had suffered at the hands of his bullies. It was like, at that very moment, that the two of them were becoming closer. He was letting Kurt in… and that just wasn't something he did. His heart was much too fragile to let just anyone in; you had to be special to get Blaine to open up to you… and here he was, letting Kurt in.

_That's because Kurt is special… very special._

A blush spread across Blaine's cheeks as he felt his heart skip a beat or two. Was he really starting to feel more for Kurt? Or was he just feeling this because Kurt was being a good friend and he was glad that he had someone to talk to? Immediately, his mind started a mental war with his heart as he debated on whether or not he was starting to like Kurt back…

_Do I really like him like that?_

_No, he's just a friend. I'm his mentor. We're just friends._

_He likes me like **that**. He has since forever._

_We're just friends. He's just being a good friend by listening to me._

_I'm just his mentor. Nothing more._

"Blaine?"

He snapped out of his thoughts quickly, settling for the last quip that his mind left him, and gazed at the boy sitting across from him.

"Sorry, I zoned out a bit. What did you ask?"

Kurt smirked and laid down on the bed, stretching his long limbs out before finding a comfortable position laying on his stomach. He laid his head on his hand and smiled sweetly at Blaine. "I was asking if Josh ever came back to your house after that ordeal?"

Blaine bit his lip in thought before responding, "No. I didn't see him alone for the rest of the summer. I saw him at track practice and all, but he never came back by my house."

"Good."

"Why good?" Blaine asked curiously.

"Because he didn't deserve your attentions nor did he deserve to be in your presence in general after he pulled all of that rubbish." Kurt spoke this matter-of-factly as he watched the hazel eyed boy sitting across from him. "I hope he spent all summer getting ulcers from worrying due to what he did to you."

Upon hearing this, Blaine started to laugh. "You're evil."

Kurt grinned back at him, "This guy better hope I never meet him. I'd be like Mercedes and cut a bitch." When he saw Blaine shoot him an incredulous look, Kurt continued, "I'm not even kidding."

And the two boys started laughing once more.

* * *

><p><span>AN: Wow, I'm dying right now. By dying, I mean, my brain cells are falling out of my head. I am having the hardest time updating. I can't get anything done with people interrupting me, asking me questions, and pestering me… and I have no where else to go! I wish I had my own little island where I could just sit and write and be left alone, but nope, not gonna happen! So anyways, I apologize if this chapter sucked. I had all these ideas in my head and then people decided to bother me all day and I lost a bit of the gusto I had to write and couldn't get it back! So sorry once more! Also, thanks to my reviewers on the last chapter! You guys give me writing mojo! :D


	12. Chapter 12

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Glee, nor am I associated with it or Ryan Murphy. I am just an out-of-college daydreamer who sometimes gets into these writing funks and ends up tossing out a story after letting the idea sit in my brain for a few days!

**Sometimes You Need More Than Courage**

By: xSlythStratasfaction (formerly known as LadyStrata821)

Pairing: Kurt x Blaine (friendship only)

WARNING: There's some language in here that may be offensive!

* * *

><p>"<em>Son, I need to talk to you for a moment."<em>

_Blaine looked up from the book he was reading and let his eyes fall onto his father. The elder Anderson was standing in the doorway with a strange look on his face. The look on his face read nothing but annoyance to Blaine, but there was also something else behind his dad's hardened gaze._

"_Yeah, dad. What is it that you want?"_

_Honestly, it was shocking to see his dad standing there. Blaine hadn't really spoken to the man since school let out. Here it was the middle of July and school had let out at the end of May. Plus, Blaine had been home from the hospital for almost a month and it had been a few weeks since his last emotional breakdown; however, his father hadn't really spoken to him at all since their early morning confrontation weeks ago. So to see the man standing there in the entrance to his room, it was a shocking sight._

_The older man looked down at his feet for a moment before glancing back up at his son. He offered the young teen a smile, something unusual to see come upon his face. "I have something I want to show you. Would you please follow me downstairs?"_

_Blaine tensed up immediately at the thought of his dad wanting him to go downstairs. His mind filled with images of Josh sitting downstairs on the couch, begging to apologize. He really didn't want to deal with something like that again, so instead of standing up and following his dad, he stayed cemented to his spot in the bed._

"_I'm not going downstairs until you tell me what's going on."_

_His father rolled his eyes and leaned up against the doorway, letting his dark hazel gaze bore holes into Blaine. "I have a gift for you. If you want it, you must come downstairs."_

"_I'm not moving," the dark haired teen whispered, pushing himself farther back into his bed._

_William Anderson sighed then, realizing that it was going to take a lot more explaining to get his boy to follow him downstairs. Raising both hands towards his temples, he tried to rub away the dull ache that was trying to form into an angry migraine. "Blaine, listen… I had a discussion with your mother last night and she told me that she took you to take your driver's permit test. She said that you passed it with flying colors and that she thought we should reward you for doing so well."_

_He paused to glance up at his son and found the boy watching him intently. "I determined that since you are going to be out on the road soon, we would get you a car. It's downstairs in the garage. That's what I wanted to show you. Will you follow me now?"_

_It didn't take long for Blaine to hop up off of the bed and dash out of the room behind his father. He couldn't believe his ears when he heard his dad say that he bought him a car; it wasn't something he ever expected his parents to do, especially after they found out he was gay._

_Smiling profusely, he tore through the downstairs of the house and skidded to a halt in front of the closed kitchen entryway to the garage. He glanced back at his father to see if it was alright if he could go on ahead in. When he saw his dad's eyes crinkle into a smile, he threw open the door…_

…_and found himself face to face with a beaten up, rusted 1959 Chevy Impala._

* * *

><p>"Ooh, vintage."<p>

The statement flew out of Kurt's mouth like air; it was breathy and soft and made Blaine smile when he heard it.

"I forgot about your fascination with old cars."

"Of course, I would have that fascination. My dad works in an auto shop. I've grown up around cars, Blaine. You knew that."

Blaine smiled and laid back on the air mattress. He stared at Kurt for a moment before he decided to answer the boy, "I know. I just get a little shell-shocked whenever I'm reminded of the things you do that people wouldn't expect you to do or like."

"Kind of like you and football?" The younger boy asked as he raised a brow and smirked at his friend.

"Yeah, kinda like me and football."

Both boys chuckled a bit before things got quiet between them. After a few moments of silence, Kurt broke the no-sound issue and yawned rather audibly. Blaine looked at him with a knowing look that said _I know you're sleepy_, but the other boy just waved a hand at him.

"You can continue on at any time. And no, don't even bother to tell me to go to bed. I'm not tired."

He yawned again, earning a laugh from Blaine.

"Well, if you're curious as to what happened with me and the '59 Impala… I worked on it all summer, when I had the time of course. My dad helped me out and it was the most time I had ever spent with him. I'll tell you something though: my dad really only built up that car with me because he was trying to get me to get my hands dirty. He wanted me to get all manly and expel my testosterone like other guys do. I think he thought that if I got down to the nitty gritty that I'd turn straight or something."

Kurt frowned and stared at his crush, "As if getting dirty is going to turn you straight!"

"Exactly," Blaine whispered as he rolled onto his back and stared up at the ceiling. "When I wasn't running or working on the car, both of my parents worked on teaching me how to drive both automatic and manual cars. Right before I went back to school, I got my license."

"But I thought you said your dad got you a car to celebrate you passing your permit test… and doesn't Ohio have a six month limit on how long someone under 18 has a permit before they can get their license?"

A small smile flashed upon Blaine's dark features before he answered, "My dad was never a very observant person. I actually had my permit for quite a while when he bought the car; I got it once I hit the proper age. I guess he thought that it was for the best to get me something to work on during the summer, to keep my mind off of things. I think the whole '_I got you this car in celebration for your permit_' thing was just an excuse."

"Oh," was all Kurt could say.

"Anyway, I worked on that car all the time. I hated it though. I hated how getting dirty felt and I hated the fact that my dad thought he could get my sexuality to change just by having me throw on coveralls and change the motor oil."

"Sometimes I help my dad work on cars. I hate getting dirty too, but there's something about putting a car together that makes me feel… umm, good."

Blaine interlocked his fingers over his abdomen and focused on a crack in the wall, "I bet you like working on cars because it's time you can spend with your dad. Your dad's a great guy, you know. I would love to have a dad like yours. He accepts you and that's something I don't think my dad would ever do."

Kurt sat up immediately, feeling his stomach drop to his feet. He gazed down at the hazel eyed boy below him and frowned, realizing that Blaine had just admitted that his father's views on his sexuality had never even changed. "Your dad still ignores the fact that you're gay?"

"Like the plague."

"Oh," Kurt was speechless once more. He looked down at his perfectly trimmed fingernails and studied each one carefully as he racked his brain with something to say to Blaine.

He didn't get a chance to respond.

"I spent all summer trying to get closer to my dad and in some aspects, we did get closer. However, after the summer had gone and I had gotten my license, we drifted apart again. I think the last straw for him was right after I finished the car."

"What happened?" Kurt asked, still watching Blaine stare at the wall.

"He brought over a girl."

* * *

><p><em>Blaine slid out from underneath the undercarriage of the Impala. He was covered in motor oil and grease; his white t-shirt streaked with inky liquid. It was late in the afternoon and the sun was hot outside. If given the chance to be anywhere else, Blaine probably would have chosen being in his bed, curled up with a good book. However, today was the final day of working on the Chevy and his father had been so excited to get the car done that he pestered Blaine all day until the boy finally conceded and surrendered to the garage.<em>

_Mr. Anderson slowly walked around the car, taking in every single detail that they had put into the vehicle, "Looks good, son. I think we've finally finished. How about you start her up and see how she purrs?"_

_Blaine shot his father an honest smile as he wiped his hands on his jeans and climbed into the car. He pulled the keys out of his pocket and slid them into the ignition, turning the car on. It purred like a kitten._

"_Dad! We did it!"_

_When the sounds of his son's ecstatic cries reached his ears, William smiled and walked over to the driver side window, reaching in and patting his son on the shoulder. "You did a good job, Blaine. I'm proud of you."_

_Just those words alone, that simple compliment, made Blaine's heart swell with love. His father was proud of him. Proud! For once, he had done something right in his father's eyes. It had been far too long._

"_Thanks, dad. I never could have done this without you."_

_The curly haired teen climbed out of the car and wrapped his arms around his dad, tears filling his eyes when he felt his dad's arms envelope him in return._

"_How about we take this car out for a test drive, hmm?"_

_Blaine opened his mouth to respond when he heard a soft knock on the side of the garage. He leapt out of his father's arms and turned around to find himself staring at a tall, leggy blonde girl. She was peeking into the garage, her ice blue eyes focusing on Blaine with a sweet smile._

"_Oh, hello! I'm sorry to interrupt, Mr. Anderson, but I was just wanting to see if your wife was around?"_

_William walked up to the young girl and took her hand, bringing her into the garage. "It's been a long time since I've seen you, Lauren." He waltzed her right up to Blaine and didn't miss the way his son instantly froze up when the girl came into arms reach._

"_You remember Lauren Meyers, don't you?"_

_Blaine stared at the girl with wide eyes. Of course he remembered Lauren. The girl had lived next door to the Andersons for years; she had been in every single class that Blaine had been in since the first grade. She was also a cheerleader, as well as one of the girls who rode his bus every single day. Lauren was one of those girls who stood around and did nothing while Blaine was getting the crap kicked out of him._

_He definitely knew who she was._

_Offering a fake smile, Blaine nodded at his father. "Yes, dad. I know Lauren. We've been neighbors and friends," he lied, "for years."_

_Lauren let her icy gaze fall up and down Blaine's body, as if she were drinking him in. A perfectly white, straight smile fell upon her lips as she spoke, "Mister Anderson, I never imagined Blaine to have gotten so handsome over the summer."_

_Blaine fought the urge to throw up on himself as he stared at the girl standing across from him. His father, on the other hand, beamed with pride as he stared at his son interacting with the girl. He turned to Blaine and started to reach into his pockets._

"_You know, Lauren… my wife isn't home at the moment, but I was thinking," he took a handful of cash out of his wallet and started to count through it, "Blaine and I just finished this car and we were thinking about taking it out on a test run. I've got some chores to do around the house, but perhaps you and Blaine could take the car for a test drive and maybe see a movie or something."_

_Lauren smiled and Blaine blanched as his father continued, "This car is perfect for a drive-in movie." He gestured towards the convertible top, "You two can sit and watch a movie like we old folks did back in the day. It's very romantic." He offered another smile to the blonde, who reciprocated the gesture._

_Blaine opened his mouth, feeling his tongue start to dry up, "But dad, I-"_

_His dad shushed him immediately by thrusting a wad of big bills into his hands. "I'm sure Lauren would love to go out, wouldn't you sweetheart?"_

_The blonde brightened and tossed a glance over to Blaine, "I haven't been out all summer!" Lies! Blaine frequently saw her sneaking into her house after 3 AM, drunk off of her ass. "I would love to go see a movie here with Blainey bear."_

_The nickname made Blaine gag and he turned away before he truly felt like vomiting. He regained his composure and turned back to his father, ready to protest, but instead found himself standing alone with Lauren. His father's retreating form could be seen going into the kitchen. The man called back a 'have fun you two and no hanky panky' before he fled into the house; Blaine was mortified._

* * *

><p><em>The movie was boring.<em>

_Blaine glanced over at the girl sitting in the passenger seat next to him and noticed that she was giving him a frigid stare as she popped piece after piece of caramel corn into her mouth._

"_Why did you even agree to come on this excursion with me?"_

_He wasn't about to call this a 'date' and he frowned when he noticed the girl make a confused face at him; obviously she didn't know what an excursion was. Finally, after a few minutes of sitting there thinking, the blonde opened up her mouth._

"_I only came because your dad offered me a hundred bucks to take you out and see if I could straighten you up."_

_As soon as the words left her mouth, Lauren turned to smirk at the boy and found him sitting there, frozen in his seat. His eyes started to water and she chuckled at him, reaching over and placing a small hand on his cheek._

"_Now don't freak out, hobbit. I'm not going to rape you or anything. I'm just here stuck in this tiny ass car with you because your dad wants to see if any sexual tension you may have for chicks will come out and fix you up. You can't be a fairy forever."_

"_Get out."_

_The blonde tensed up as she pulled her hand back away from Blaine's face; it was like she had been burned by him or something by the way she pulled back so quickly._

"_What did you say?"_

"_I said get out," Blaine hissed as he turned towards the small girl. His hazel eyes were furious, growing darker by the second, and the cheerleader froze as she watched him grow angrier and angrier._

"_I'm not getting out. I need a ride home!"_

"_I said GET THE FUCK OUT, LAUREN!"_

_The girl jumped up and opened the door, staring down at him with a feral gaze. "You're gonna be sorry you kicked me out, Blaine Anderson. I will make your life a living hell! You'd better believe that!" She grabbed up her refreshments and kicked the car door closed with her foot before she stalked off towards another car._

_Blaine whispered after her, "My life is already a living hell."_

* * *

><p><em>The drive home was hard.<em>

_Blaine couldn't see half of the time he was driving and ended up having to pull over several times in order to try and compose himself. His hands were shaking, his body trembling as he made his way home. He was just so furious; furious because his father had sent him out with some trollop and furious because his dad had paid the said trollop to try to turn him straight._

_He was honestly heartbroken._

_Pulling into the driveway, he pressed the open garage button on the keypad he installed in the Chevy and waited until the door came fully up before he pulled into the garage next to his mom's Mustang. With a strangled sob, he yanked the keys out of the ignition, climbed out of the car, slammed the door, and burst into his house._

"_DAD! HOW COULD YOU?"_

_His parents were both standing in the kitchen, staring at him with wide eyes. Their son was standing before him, his face red and contorted into an angry sneer. He was crying hard and his fists were balled up. He looked horrible._

"_Blaine, honey, what happened?"_

_His mother came forward first, reaching out a hand to touch her son, but he backed away, his hazel eyes still on his father._

"_How could you?" He whispered, staring at the man that he thought had finally started to love and accept him, "How you could do this to me?"_

"_Do what?" Maria asked as she glanced between the two men. "What happened?"_

_Blaine sobbed, "Dad paid Lauren Meyers t-to d-date me! He paid her to date me to make me s-straight!" He looked back at his father again, feeling a pit of fire burning in his stomach. "Nothing that you is going to make me straight, dad! NOTHING!"_

_He flung his car keys at his dad and they hit the older man in the shoulder before clattering to the floor._

"_I HATE YOU!"_

_He spun around then, running as fast as he could upstairs. The tears were still streaming down his face and he felt horridly sick. Dashing into his bedroom, Blaine quickly ran into his private bathroom and dropped to the floor, dry heaving and choking._

_He was having another panic attack._

_His mother was the first one to enter the room, rushing to her son when she saw him struggling to breathe on the cold, tiled floor. Sobbing, she pulled him into her bosom and tried her best to hush his tears. "Breathe, baby, breathe." She cooed as quietly as she could, hoping her voice could calm the panicky boy._

_She rocked him back and forth in her arms and cried quietly, especially when she felt him still for a moment before catching his breath._

_Together, the two sat in the bathroom and cried: Blaine crying out for love and acceptance and his mother crying for her broken son._

* * *

><p>Blaine finished what he was saying and then turned to look at Kurt, finding the boy's eyes focused vehemently on him.<p>

"Are you okay?" He asked as he waited for the other boy to blink.

Kurt nodded as his eyes fluttered open and shut for a moment; he paused for a few seconds before he let his gaze fall from Blaine's face.

"I just don't see how anyone could do that to their own child."

Blaine sighed, "It happens every day… to millions of people. Why do you think some kids take gay beards?"

The blue-eyed boy rolled onto his back and hummed to himself for a moment before responding, "I know it happens a lot. I've already told you about my somewhat gay beard experience with Brittany."

"Mmm hmm."

"But what I don't understand is how people think someone is just going to change if they try to put them together with someone that they obviously don't want to be with."

The dark haired teen glanced over at his friend, "Isn't that kind of what you did with Finn though? Trying to get him to like you even though you knew he wasn't gay."

As soon as the words left his mouth, he instantly regretted what he said. His heart fell when he saw Kurt shoot up from his laying position on the bed. It looked as if someone had just kicked him; he reminded Blaine of a scolded child or an abandoned puppy.

"Oh Kurt, I didn't mean-"

"I can't believe you would say that, Blaine!" His blue eyes grew dark and stormy again and Blaine felt his stomach flip. "I know what happened between me and Finn was something that was absolutely ridiculous and we've talked it over and everything. That's the past! Plus, I've never really told you what went down between us, so how is it that you can automatically judge me if you don't know what happened?"

Blaine opened his mouth to speak, but ended up closing it again when he felt his cheeks grow hot with embarrassment.

"I know that some of the stuff I did to Finn was pretty out there and flamboyant, but we've gotten over that fact now that we're related by marriage. What I was trying to express to your earlier was that I didn't understand how someone could do that to their own CHILD!" Kurt was turning red now, heated from arguing. "I just don't see how you could sit there and judge me like that. I-I…"

The countertenor grew quiet and Blaine glanced up at him, noticing the tears that were starting to fringe at the end of his long lashes. "Kurt, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I-"

Kurt raised a hand to silence the shorter boy. He then raised both of his fists towards his eyes and started to brush away the tears that wanted to fall.

"I have to go to the bathroom," he whispered before he rose up from the bed and dashed across the room.

Blaine mentally kicked himself.

_Way to go, Blaine. Way to go…_

* * *

><p><span>AN: Just a few more chapters to go people! I'm excited. I don't think I've ever written this much on a story before (well minus the term papers I had to do in college, but I absolutely hated writing those and I wanted to die every time I had to write an essay on Shakespeare, but this is different because I actually like Klaine, haha). Anyways, thanks to all my loyal reviewers and thanks to anyone who reviews this newest chapter!


	13. Chapter 13

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Glee, nor am I associated with it or Ryan Murphy. I am just an out-of-college daydreamer who sometimes gets into these writing funks and ends up tossing out a story after letting the idea sit in my brain for a few days! I also don't own iPod or Angry Birds or anything associated with them!

**Sometimes You Need More Than Courage**

By: xSlythStratasfaction (formerly known as LadyStrata821)

Pairing: Kurt x Blaine (friendship only)

WARNING: There's some language in here that may be offensive!

A/N: HOLY HELL PEOPLE! THE PROM EPISODE, OMG! I have so much to do now to incorporate stuff from that into this… (and for those of you who haven't watched the prom episode yet, I don't have any spoilers in here yet, but I will have some in the next chapter, so just a fair warning). I had a huge idea in my head for why Blaine leaves his old school, but now that idea has merged with something else and I think it's gonna need a whole new story… so uh, yeah. We'll see!

* * *

><p>Blaine waited.<p>

He waited and waited and waited… but Kurt still hadn't left the confines of the bathroom. The boy had been in there for over twenty minutes and Blaine couldn't hear anything but muffled sniffles coming from the other room. Sighing, the older teen leaned up against the wall next to the bathroom door.

"Kurt? Can we talk about this? I didn't mean to offend you; it just slipped out before I could catch what I said. I never meant it to be something to hurt you, I swear."

He waited some more for his friend to respond, but got nothing. The sniffling had stopped, but the sound of a nose being blown replaced the sniffles. Blaine wondered to himself if that meant Kurt was going to come out soon.

The dark haired teen knocked on the bathroom door lightly, waiting for a response. He heard nothing once again.

"I'm sorry, Kurt."

Still nothing. It seemed as if Kurt Hummel was going to play the drama queen card at the moment. In all honesty, Blaine felt terrible about what he said. He didn't really know of the story behind the failed Kurt/Finn romance of last year, but he knew that the entire Kurt/Rachel friendship had some ups and downs over it. Then again, the Kurt/Rachel friendship almost blew up when Blaine had tried his hand at dating the girl… but that was another story for another day.

Giving up, Blaine left his post at the bathroom door and headed for his blow-up air mattress. He laid down, facing the bathroom, and watched the door patiently.

Kurt had to come out of there sometime.

* * *

><p><em>Stupid Blaine…<em>

**_No, that's too harsh. He's not stupid. He just made a mistake, that's all._**

_No, he's an idiot. How dare he say that about you and Finn! He doesn't even know the whole story behind it all._

**_He didn't mean it. He said he was sorry._**

_Yeah, he apologized because he stuck his foot in his mouth. Idiot._

**_Stop being a drama queen and get your ass back out there. This is an emotional time for him and you've gotta be there for him. He's always been there for you._**

_Not always…_

**_He has when it's counted, you fool. Now buck up and apologize for running away from him._**

_I don't think I can. I feel foolish._

**_Courage, Kurt… __courage__._**

Who in their right mind argues with themselves? Well, Kurt Hummel was at that very moment as he stared at himself in the bathroom mirror. His eyes were puffy and red and his cheeks had angry red stains on them from where the tears had left tracks. He looked like a mess… and for what? Over something as trivial as Blaine bringing up the Finn romance debacle.

Kurt really couldn't believe himself when he flipped out and rushed out of the room. Sure, part of him felt like Blaine had taken a low blow at him by bringing up his past with Finn, but then again, Blaine didn't even know of the entire situation. The boy had just been trying to use Kurt's past infatuation as an example; he wasn't trying to cause any harm.

And that's what left Kurt stuck in the bathroom: he was trying to figure out how to go out and apologize to the boy who he had ran out on. The poor guy had basically put his heart and soul on the line all evening to entertain Kurt and instead of being a good friend and a good listener, Kurt landblasted the guy and locked himself up in his bathroom.

_Oh Lord, I'm such a freaking drama queen…_

This new side of Blaine, this more open, more trusting side had caused Kurt's heart to go pity pat much more so than it had in the past. The younger teen could actually _feel _the two of them growing closer and closer with each and every secret that Blaine shared with him; and of course, as usual, Kurt had to ruin the moment by becoming overdramatic and judgmental.

_Curse you and you prima donna tendencies! _His mind mentally scolded. _Go out there and apologize before it's too late!_

A knot tightened up in his throat when he heard the air mattress creak outside in Blaine's bedroom. That meant that the older boy had finally given up waiting for Kurt to unlock himself from the bathroom. That meant that Blaine was done.

That meant it was _too late_.

Kurt grabbed up a couple more tissues before he took a seat on the toilet. The lid had one of those fuzzy covers on it and it felt slid a bit when Kurt plopped down on it; he scooted himself backwards against the cool porcelain back and pulled his knees up to his chest.

_What have I done? Blaine probably hates me. I hate being such an ice queen sometimes._

It was true. Kurt Hummel was an ice cold bitch sometimes, but only when he felt like he needed to go into defense mode. He had spent a lot of his life dealing with crap and had perfected the art of using the 'ice-queen-don't-mess-with-me-bitch' face as well as throwing up his guard whenever he felt immediately threatened. Blaine had been one of the only people that he hardly used this other side of on. Truth be told, the only times he had unleashed angry lewd Kurt was during the Jeremiah-Gap catastrophe or that time when Blaine thought he was bi. Other than that, Kurt thought he did a pretty good job around Blaine… but that was probably because he was madly in love with the boy and felt like laying it all on the line. Plus, he didn't want to push Blaine away.

Or at least he didn't want to… but he was doing it now.

Rolling his eyes, the tall boy huffed and threw himself off of the toilet seat. He took one last glance at his face as he passed by the mirror and fixed a few stray cowlicks that stood straight up on his head.

_It's now or never, Kurt. Go apologize._

Pushing his inner bitch out of the way, Kurt unlocked the bathroom door and opened it, stepping out into the warm bedroom.

The sight that was before him made his heart skip a couple of beats: Blaine was sleeping curled up on the air mattress, his mouth slight open as he quietly breathed, and his hand was fisted around a blanket. He looked absolutely adorable.

_Adorable enough to kiss…_

Kurt blushed when he realized that he was spending way too much time staring at Blaine's sleepy face and the way his lips were parted open ever so slightly. Heart racing, he leaned down over the sleeping boy and softly pried the blanket out of his fists. He laid the quilt over the shorter boy's body and then tucked it around him before he took a couple of Blaine's loose curls into his fingers.

_He is perfect. Gorgeous. I love him…_

He was sure he loved him, absolutely sure. They had only known each other for a few months, but within that short span, they became the best of friends. They had been through some pretty intense stuff in their lifetimes and they had been through some pretty ridiculous stuff together as well (ahem, Jeremiah and Rachel), but in the end, they reminded close. There was nothing more in this world that Kurt desired other than Blaine. He wanted to be with Blaine, to hold Blaine, to comfort Blaine, to kiss Blaine…

_To love Blaine._

With a sad smile, Kurt leaned down and gently pressed a kiss to the top of Blaine's hairline, feeling his warm skin and soft curls underneath his lips.

_He is perfect. He is brave. He is courageous._

"I love you, Blaine." It came out as a soft whisper and as soon as it escaped his lips, Kurt felt his eyes widen and fall down to the sleeping boy's face. He panicked when he saw Blaine's eyes twitch slightly. _Was he going to get up? Was he just faking being asleep? Oh my God, what have I done?_

Kurt watched the tenor curl into himself some more before he let out a soft snore. All the tension that had built up in Kurt's chest came out in a heavy sigh once he realized that his crush was still sleeping and didn't hear his quiet confession.

_Thank God…_

With one last passing gaze at the resting teen, Kurt stood up and made his way across the room. He glanced up at the wall clock and noticed that it was just a little bit before 5 AM. Groaning inwardly, the blue eyed boy climbed into Blaine's bed and mentally battled himself over whether or not to go to sleep. Naturally, he was a little bit tired, but he was also very hyped up from the coffee he had consumed and from the seriousness of the talk he had just had with Blaine (the boy freaking shared his life story with Kurt and that was a HUGE step); so, he really wasn't that tired.

Sighing in annoyance, the boy reached over to Blaine's desk and grabbed his messenger bag, pulling out his iPod touch and turning it on.

If he was going to stay up for the next few hours, he was going to need something to keep himself occupied. So, with a grin, he scrolled through the screen, brightening up when he landed on something that was guaranteed to keep him awake: Angry Birds!

* * *

><p>"No please, not Cameron! Leave him alone!"<p>

Kurt jerked awake, his eyes taking in the slight darkness of the room; it was very early morning and cloudy out, so the sky was still a soft hue of dark blue. He looked down at his lap and noticed his iPod sitting there, screen blackened and in sleep mode. He was leaning up against the wall, head lulled to the side; he must've fallen asleep sometime within the last few hours while he was playing Angry Birds.

_Damn, that game usually keeps me awake!_

"St-stop! Please! Don't hurt him!"

Kurt's eyes drifted to the floor when he once again heard the muffled noises that originally jerked him awake. There, laying on the floor in a mess of blankets, was Blaine. His tiny form was thrashing about, fists flying as he jerked around like he was fighting someone. In an instant, Kurt threw himself up off of the bed and landed on the floor with a thud in front of Blaine.

"Blaine? Blaine, can you hear me?"

He placed a hand onto Blaine's shoulder and was casually thrown off as the older boy fought back against the touch. _This must be some horrid nightmare for him to be fighting like this_, Kurt's mind threw out as it thought of another way to wake the boy.

"N-no! Please!"

"Blaine, baby! It's me!" _Baby? Say what?_ Kurt threw his confused thoughts to the back as he leaned over his crush's shaking form. Punch after punch he dodged as he tried to gain a grip on Blaine's arms; he was finally able to grab onto the boy's forearms after he climbed over top of the nightmaring teen and sat on his chest. He really didn't want to have to do that, but it needed to be done… no matter how awkward it all was.

"Blaine, please?"

He leaned his forehead down, pressing it against the curled head of his friend's, feeling the dampness of the other boy's skin.

"Calm down. It's alright. I'm here."

Blaine instantly started to hush as Kurt murmured quiet peace into his ear. Once his body stilled and his breathing evened out, the taller teen gently rolled off of his friend's chest and pulled the shivering singer into his arms.

"Everything's going to be okay. I'm here, Blaine. I'm here."

He felt Blaine's body erupt into shaking sobs as the boy rocked back and forth against him. Kurt also rocked with him, humming low in his chest.

"I'm here, Blaine."

It took a few minutes before the other boy fully opened his eyes and looked up at Kurt, but when he did, Kurt was sure he felt his heart burst out of his chest. Blaine was staring up at him with such admiration and love… and it hurt. It hurt to see him staring up like that with his hazel eyes shimmering with tears; he looked so fearful.

"Everything is going to be alright. I promise."

Blaine whispered softly under his breath as he curled back into Kurt's chest, "Thank you." He leaned his head into the crook of Kurt's neck and breathed, causing the younger boy to shudder considerably.

"I'm sorry for flipping out on you earlier, Blaine. I never should've-"

"No," Blaine said softly as he wrapped his arms around Kurt's waist, pulling the boy closer. "I never should have-"

He didn't finish. Both boys had started to cry, a mutual respect forming between them as they both recognized their apologies to one another. They sat there, on the cold floor, rocking back and forth for a moment before Kurt finally coughed and pulled away from Blaine for a moment.

"How about we get you back into bed?" He whispered as he stared down at the dark haired teen through watery blue eyes. Blaine nodded and curled against Kurt as the taller boy helped him over to his bed.

"Kurt, what are you-"

Kurt shushed him then, lowering him onto his own bed, before he turned towards the air mattress. "This is your room, Blaine. You sleep in your bed. I'll sleep on the air mattress and-"

"Stay with me," Blaine interrupted; his voice a little louder than he expected it to be. "I don't think I can sleep alone right now."

Kurt nodded and lowered himself down next to Blaine in the tiny bed. He felt the other boy coil up against his body and he smiled, feeling the warmth that Blaine's body brought against his. They hadn't been this close to each other since Blaine was practically snuggling him that night he stayed at Kurt's because he was hungover. With a sweet sigh, Kurt slowly ran his fingers through Blaine's curly hair, feeling the other boy growl softly in appreciation over the contact. The noise that erupted from Blaine made Kurt's stomach flip in excitement and he pulled his crush close, wanting to cherish the moment and imprint every single feeling his body had in the back of his mind.

Blaine may not ever feel the same way about Kurt as Kurt did about him, but at that very moment, Kurt was sure to store every single sweet memory between the two of them in his mental filing cabinet.

Leaning down, he pressed another kiss to Blaine's curly head and closed his eyes. He wasn't going to leave this spot until Blaine wanted him to go, even if his father flipped out when he got home. Blaine needed him and he was here to stay.

* * *

><p><span>AN: I know, there wasn't a flashback in this one, but I'll get to it, I promise! Also, who the hell is Cameron? Say WHAT! I'll get to that too… sooner or later. Anyways, thanks to all my lovely reviewers, I love you guys more than I love Taco Bell (and that is a LOT people). Please review!


	14. Chapter 14

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Glee, nor am I associated with it or Ryan Murphy. I am just an out-of-college daydreamer who sometimes gets into these writing funks and ends up tossing out a story after letting the idea sit in my brain for a few days! I also don't own iPod or Angry Birds or anything associated with them!

**Sometimes You Need More Than Courage**

By: xSlythStratasfaction (formerly known as LadyStrata821)

Pairing: Kurt x Blaine (friendship only)

WARNING: There's some language in here that may be offensive and possible PROM QUEEN spoilers! You have been warned!

* * *

><p>"<em>Here… take this. You look cold."<em>

_He was standing in front of that mystery boy again; the same boy who had been plaguing his dreams for the last few weeks, the same boy who he had dreamt of only hours before._

_They were back where they had started in his previous dream, underneath the starlit sky, holding hands. The mystery boy was still clouded in shadows, his hands clutching Blaine's fingers as if they were his life force. The figure shivered once more as a cool draft spread over the two of them. Gently, Blaine pulled an arm away from the mystery boy's grip and thrust his hand forward. His Dalton jacket was loosely hanging in a fisted grasp._

"_Please take it. You are shivering."_

_The mystery boy shook his head, pulling his hands back and placing one small hand on his chest, leaving it over his heart. Blaine waited for an answer as his eyes struggled to take in the figure's stature._

_Nothing._

"_Who are you?" Blaine finally asked, tilting his head upwards to stare at the person before him. Though shadowed, he knew the figure was a male… a very familiar male at that._

_The shadow said nothing, but moved its hand from over its heart and reached out for Blaine's jacket. Once the blazer was in its hands, the figure draped the garment over Blaine's body, gently buttoning it back up onto his torso._

"_What are you-"_

_He silenced when he felt the mystery boy's cool fingertips brush his forehead and then run through his hair, coiling around a few of his curls. He shuddered under the touch and felt himself melting; this mystery dude had a profound effect on him._

"_Who are you?"_

_Mysterious boy didn't answer yet again. Instead, he leaned forward, closing the small distance between their bodies, and pressed a gentle, warm kiss to Blaine's forehead._

_Blaine was falling._

_The dream boy felt so real to him. He could feel the heat that radiated from the man's body as he pressed his lips to Blaine's face. He could smell the clean, masculine (yet somewhat feminine) scent of the other guy's body; there were also undertones of coffee and was that- yes, mocha- in the man's scent as well._

_Delicious._

"_I love you, Blaine."_

_Whatever air that had been in his lungs at that moment had died. Flown away. Evaporated. Gone. He opened his mouth to say something back to the boy, to let him know that he loved him too, but found himself speechless when he blinked open his eyes and saw the shadowed boy staring back at him._

_His eyes were complex. A mixture of blue, grey, and green. Stunningly beautiful… and yet so freakishly familiar._

_That was all he could see of the boy: just his eyes._

_And he was enamored._

"_I love you, too." He whispered back, waiting for the shadow to answer him. He glanced up into the artistic eyes and frowned when he noticed that they were gone. He let his eyes skim the area; no one was around. It was just him standing there, under the moonlight… alone._

_The mystery boy had gone._

* * *

><p>As his first dream faded into darkness, another dream started up… a much more sinister one.<p>

_Blaine found himself transported back to his sophomore year of high school and at his All Hallows Eve Sadie Hawkins' dance. He was standing in an alley, watching as his date was getting the shit kicked out of him. He couldn't do anything; he just stood there._

_"No please, not Cameron! Leave him alone!"_

_There were others there as well. Blaine knew their faces and but only knew two of their names. He bit back the sob that threatened to escape from his throat when he saw a familiar someone ducking behind a trash bin. He felt tears fill his eyes when he saw his date curled up on the ground, bleeding profusely from the massive amounts of cuts he had sustained in the beating._

_And then somehow, Blaine found himself aching and throbbing in places all over his body, even though no one was actually touching him. Immediately, he cast his eyes over to a huddle on the other side of the alley and saw three guys hunched over a small bundle on the ground. They were yelling and screaming, kicking and cursing, spitting and pissing on the unconscious form on the ground._

_It was him._

_Blaine stared at his lifeless self as the three guys pummeled him into the ground. He could feel every single punch, every single slap, and every single kick that had been thrown at him. He curled around himself, trying to hide away from the pain. _

_Nothing he did helped though._

_He continued to ignore the sight before him until it morphed into something much more menacing._

_His date, Cameron, was still curled up on the ground, bloody and barely breathing. Blaine, himself, was lying down on the cold, hard ground, just as unconscious as the other boy. The three goons who had been beating them up were now moving across the alley, heading towards a shadowed figure standing in the back._

"_What are you looking at, homo?" They sneered at the shadowed figure._

_Blaine stared back, instantly realizing that the shadowed guy was the same one from his previous dreams. Why was he here? This was a nightmare, a nightmare of a horrid past event that fucked Blaine up forever._

_The shadowed figure dashed across the alley, running up to the unconscious Blaine. "Blaine? Blaine, can you hear me?"_

_He wanted to say yes, but found that his mouth was clamped shut. He stared on in horror as the shadowed figure pulled his half-dead form to its chest, rocking the bloody boy back and forth._

_Why was this nightmare like this? Why was he on the outside looking in?_

_The shadowed figure huddled over his body then and dream-Blaine felt himself being held close, even though his actual body was just across the way. He stared at the mystery boy that held his body close to his chest. Those same complex eyes were staring down at him; nothing else could be seen, just the eyes and the shadows._

_"Blaine, baby! It's me!"_

_The term of endearment that slipped out of his dream lover's mouth made Blaine tense up instantly. He watched as the three guys who had been previously beating him up moved over towards the shadowed figure. They were going to hurt him too… and Blaine just couldn't allow it._

_He leapt into action, throwing punches and kicks violently. They did nothing; it was like he was punching air. The three men moved forward until they were almost completely on top of the mystery boy._

_Blaine opened his mouth to scream when he saw their hands reaching for the boy's neck._

_Nothing._

_The cloaked boy leaned down and pressed his dark face to dream-Blaine's bloody forehead. "Blaine, please? Calm down. It's alright. I'm here."_

_Blaine could feel the skin to skin contact and his body instantly calmed._

_"Everything's going to be okay. I'm here, Blaine. I'm here."_

_His body shook as tears started to form in his eyes. The shadow was here for him, to help him, to save him. The damn behind his eyes broke and he started to sob, watching as the three drones that had hurt him previously faded away into nothing. His bloodied date was smiling at him from across the alleyway, his injuries slowly healing as he stood up from the ground._

"_Let him in, Blaine." The boy whispered as he too faded away._

_Blaine continued to cry, feeling his body still enveloped in the warmth of the mystery boy's arms. As he stood there in the dark alley and cried, he noticed that he was slowly fading away himself. He blinked back a couple of tears and looked around, immediately noticing that he was no longer standing in the alley, but was instead lying on the cold, hard ground. There was something warm around him though and he looked up, seeing those intense eyes staring back down at him._

_He had become dream-Blaine, the boy that had been lying broken on the cement. And he was being held by the shadowed figure._

_Everything felt right then._

_"I'm here, Blaine."_

_He curled into the warmth and continued to cry_

* * *

><p>Rain pitter pattered on his bedroom window.<p>

Whenever it rained, Blaine always found that he slept better. Just the white noise that came from the sound of the water splashing up against his window soothed him and everything seemed calm in the world. It was only when the rain developed into a nasty thunderstorm that Blaine got a little freaked out.

So, when a loud boom erupted outside, Blaine was quick to jump up and practically leap out of bed.

Well, he _tried_ to leap out of bed. He wasn't able to though, thanks to the strong arms that were linked around his waist. He opened his eyes fully and blinked the sleep out of them before he gazed up at the body that was holding him.

It was Kurt.

Just the sight of the sleeping boy made Blaine's heart beat wildly. Everything came back to him at once: falling asleep while waiting for Kurt to leave the bathroom, the dream of the mystery boy, the nightmare, waking up in Kurt's arms, asking the boy to stay with him in bed. It all came back and hit him like a wave.

Kurt had stayed. He had stayed with Blaine even though he didn't need to.

He could have easily slipped back onto the air mattress during the night, but he didn't. Instead, he remained curled up next to the tenor and stayed there all morning.

Speaking of morning, what time was it?

Blaine untangled his legs from the mess of limbs that he and Kurt had created and grabbed Kurt's phone off of the desk nearby. He pressed the screen and watched as it lit up. It was a little bit after noon. Not too bad. They'd slept for a few hours.

Well, at least Blaine did… he wasn't too sure about Kurt.

Sighing, he gently placed the phone back onto the desk and laid back down on the mattress next to his friend. Everything was so warm underneath the blankets, especially when he was right up against Kurt. He looked up and let his hazel eyes gaze at the taller teen's handsome features. Everything was so much more pronounced in his sleep, from his strong jawline to his perfect nose. His lips were parted slightly as he breathed softly in and out.

He was absolutely gorgeous.

Blaine took a deep breath as he reached up and ran a hand through Kurt's now unkempt locks. He knew that if he were to pull a stunt like that any other time, he'd probably get chewed out a little, so he took his chance and practically melted when he felt the smooth, silky strands in his fingertips.

Above him, Kurt sighed in content as Blaine ran his fingers through his locks. He couldn't keep his eyes off of Kurt's face as he ran his fingers along the boy's hairline and down towards his jaw. The more and more his fingers brushed along Kurt's smooth skin, the more and more Blaine noticed how sweetly the other boy's body reacted to his touch.

It was intoxicating, being so close to him like this.

He could smell Kurt's cologne due to the fact that his face was practically buried in the countertenor's shoulder. Kurt faintly smelled of bergamot with hints of tangerine and orange blossom; it was masculine with a feminine touch and smelled delicious. A faint hint of mocha coffee also wafted from his skin and Blaine quickly remembered the events of the night before when Kurt had spilled coffee all over his chest.

Gently, Blaine brushed his hand over Kurt's chest, feeling the heat radiating from the little burns that marred the boy's chest. A pit of regret filled his stomach when he remembered why Kurt had jumped up off of the bed: that damn flying pencil that Blaine threw. It was so stupid.

_You should kiss those burns away, Blaine… _his mind taunted as he let his hazel gaze lock onto Kurt's chest, rising and falling with each breath he took.

Deep down, Blaine feared that Kurt would wake at any second and would catch him being creepy, watching him sleep. As much as he wanted to make everything better for his friend, he wasn't sure if he could or even if Kurt wanted him to.

_Kurt wants you bad, doofus. He even told you so himself._

Blaine rolled his eyes as he laid back down against Kurt, cuddling into the boy's side. He wrapped one arm around Kurt's thin waist and smiled when he felt the teen's stomach tighten over the unexplained contact. Kurt had quite a body on him, that was for sure.

_Quit thinking like that, Blaine! He's your friend!_

_**He also happens to be in love with you… or he at least likes you!**_

_I'm his mentor. I have to be strong for him. I failed Cameron; I can't fail Kurt…_

_**You didn't fail anyone. You did what you could.**_

Tears started to fill in his eyes as he inwardly argued with himself. Memories of his past flooded his mind as well as memories of his friend Cameron. He couldn't keep the tears at bay and found himself fighting to not break into sobs.

"I'm such a coward," he whispered as he rolled away from Kurt's body and stared at the wall.

"For what it's worth, Blaine, I think you are the bravest person I know," a soft, sleepy voice broke the older teen from his thoughts. Two arms wrapped around him and pulled him back against a sturdy chest. "Never say that you're a coward. _Never_."

Blaine crumpled then, breaking down against Kurt's chest as the younger boy cradled him in his arms. The two still lay together on the bed and Kurt held the shorter teen flush against him.

"For you to have gone through all of this stuff and come out of it as amazing as you are confuses me, Blaine. I've gone through only a smidgen of that stuff and I think I'm a wreck sometimes, but here you are, brave and spectacular and amazing and you've been through a lot of crap." Kurt was whispering softly into Blaine's hair now, his arms still coiled around the crying boy's chest. "I admire you. You are so strong."

"I-I'm not as strong as you think I am, Kurt."

"You may not live up to your expectations of strength, but I'm pretty sure that anyone else out there, myself very much included, would beg to differ." The countertenor pressed his lips to Blaine's scalp, "You've brought me out of many a funk. Let me help you this time."

Blaine let out a stifled sob as Kurt squeezed his body closer to him. "Thank you," he sighed as the other teen held him close.

Kurt said nothing as he pressed his face into Blaine's back. The two boys laid like that, still and quiet, as they listened to the buzz of the drops of rain pluck against the window and the low rumble of thunder growl outside.

Finally, someone spoke, "I'm always going to be here for you, Blaine. Just let me in."

* * *

><p><span>AN: I totally had the shakes while I was writing this. I don't know why though. I was trying to write and my arms were quivering. How annoying, right? Anyways, sorry if this chapter was kind of lame. I wrote up this HUGE flashback about Blaine and his ordeal at the Sadie Hawkins' dance, but it just didn't fit right to me, so I took it out and have decided to put it into a completely different story (one where Kurt and Blaine are actually a couple and he finally admits to what happened). So, I guess be on the lookout for that one. This story should be finished very, VERY soon and I'm so close to 100 reviews that I can taste victory, so please help me get those last 20+ reviews, PLEASE? Also, a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my reviewer ADRIENNE! Hope you have a great one and I hope you liked this chapter! :)


	15. Chapter 15

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Glee, nor am I associated with it or Ryan Murphy. I am just an out-of-college daydreamer who sometimes gets into these writing funks and ends up tossing out a story after letting the idea sit in my brain for a few days! I also don't own iPod or Angry Birds or anything associated with them!

**Sometimes You Need More Than Courage**

By: xSlythStratasfaction (formerly known as LadyStrata821)

Pairing: Kurt x Blaine (friendship only)

WARNING: There's some language in here that may be offensive and possible PROM QUEEN spoilers! You have been warned!

* * *

><p><em>Do best friends really snuggle like this?<em>

Thoughts ran rampant through Kurt's head as he laid curled up next to Blaine. The older boy had finally dozed off after an hour of quietly crying into Kurt's chest. They had not spoken any of what had happened the evening prior, of their talk, or Blaine's nightmares. Kurt instead just lay next to the boy and cuddled him until he calmed down; that seemed to work better than anything. Finally, after Blaine had finally mellowed out and dozed off, things began to click in Kurt's head. Thoughts of the relationship that the two boys shared took over his mind and he found himself questioning the gist of it all.

_I cuddle with Cedes like this all of the time… is this any different than that? Blaine and I are best friends. Mercedes and I are best friends. It's the same… right?_

He knew it definitely wasn't the same. Cuddling with Mercedes was so much different than cuddling with Blaine. Kurt didn't have any sexual feelings towards his fabulous diva best friend like he did for the lead singer now lounging in his arms. When he snuggled up with Mercedes, he felt happy and loved. When he snuggled up with Blaine, he felt those things as well as safe, protected, and… _right_.

It was like they were molded to fit _together_.

Blaine was smaller than Kurt in height, though he was slightly heavier in weight (only because of his height though; Kurt was sure that if Blaine was just a few inches taller, they'd rival one another in size). The tenor's body fit perfectly up against Kurt's long form; his head rested gently in the crook of the taller boy's neck. Just the two of them lying there together felt like someone had put a puzzle together, gathered the missing pieces or connected the dots. It felt perfect.

_If only Blaine could feel this…_

Kurt looked down at the sleeping boy he held in his arms and sighed as he ran a hand through the loose curls that fell in front of Blaine's eyes. He really wished the other teen would let his hair go unruly every once in a while; the wild look was very becoming on him. He smiled when he heard Blaine moan slightly under his touch.

_If only they were together… as more than friends._

The countertenor wondered if his crush had started seeing things differently between the two of them like he had. Surely things could change between them if they were willing to be so open and close to one another. Kurt remembered Wes telling him that Blaine never opened up to anyone unless he truly cared for them… that it had taken him almost a year to finally tell some of the other Warblers about his life prior to coming to Dalton. Surely Kurt must've been someone special to the soloist if Blaine had finally confided in him not months after Kurt's transfer to the Academy. Something had to be different about him. _It had to be._

Smiling, Kurt pulled his friend closer to his chest and glanced up at the wall clock that sat across the room. It was nearing 3 PM and the two boys had practically been in bed all day long. As he let his blue eyes linger on the clock, he felt his stomach drop as he remembered that he needed to be back in Lima sometime that day. He had originally told his dad that he was coming back in the morning, but found himself sleeping all day long so he missed his morning deadline. Frowning at the prospect that his dad was going to be uber pissed with him for not calling, Kurt maneuvered his body gently from Blaine's sleeping form and rolled off of the bed.

Everything felt cold once he slipped out of the warm body cocoon that was his friend; he shivered as he realized that he'd rather be back in bed cemented to Blaine than be anywhere else in the world right then.

"Where did I put my phone?" He whispered as he glanced around the room. Immediately he spotted it, sitting right in front of him on Blaine's desk. He grabbed it up and touched the screen, feeling his heart start to pound frantically when he saw the dozens of missed calls he had somehow ignored throughout the morning.

_Shit, my phone was on silent. When did I turn the ringtone off?_

Instantly he remembered earlier in the evening when he came out of the bathroom and found Blaine sleeping…

* * *

><p><em>The chorus of '<strong>4 Minutes<strong> by Madonna and Justin Timberlake' rang through the air._

_Kurt threw his iPod down onto the bed and leapt across the room, grabbing up his phone in a hurry as his eyes darted across the room to the sleeping form lying on the air mattress._

"_Goodness gracious, Mercedes! Do you realize what time it is?"_

_He heard a soft chuckle from the other side of the line and he smiled._

"_Is that prep boy keeping you awake, white boy? Because from what I've heard from Finn-"_

"_Cedes!" Kurt hissed as quietly as he could, his blue eyes still locked on the snoring boy cocooned on the floor. "I can't talk right now. Blaine is sleeping and I don't want to wake him up. He had a rough night and-"_

"_I'm sure he did," Mercedes purred._

"_It's not like that, you pervert." He rolled his eyes at his friend and looked down at his fingernails, hoping the deep red blush that had taken over his face would lift soon. "I've really gotta go. I don't want to wake up Blaine."_

"_Fine. But you'd better call me in the morning or something… or I'll cut you!"_

_Kurt grinned, "You always say that, Cedes, and you know you'd never do it. Now I'll call you later; go to bed!"_

"_Bye boo!"_

"_Bye!"_

_He tapped the screen to end the call and set it down next to him, going back to his iPod. It wasn't even two or three minutes later when his phone started to go off again. He glanced down at it in horror, watching as his inbox filled up with creepy text messages from his former glee club mates. Groaning at how fast news spread through their group, he grabbed up his phone and switched it to silent, mentally reminding himself to get up early enough to call his dad._

_The tired boy then set the phone on the desk and went back to Angry Birds. Kurt would remember to call his dad in the morning… after he got some sleep maybe._

* * *

><p>Kurt definitely didn't remember to call his dad.<p>

The majority of the missed phone calls came from the man in question anyways. There were some calls from Finn, some from Carole, many from Burt, and a few from Mercedes. Hell, there were even a few texts from Wes and David.

He went through his phone slowly, reading all the texts (they all basically said the same thing: _where are you?_ Or _why don't you answer your phone?_). Taking one last look back at Blaine to make sure he was still sleeping, the younger boy fled into the privacy of the bathroom, holding up his phone to call his house.

After the third ring, a gruff voice answered, "Hudson-Hummel residence?"

"Dad?"

Burt huffed, "Kurt, where the hell have you been? I've been trying to call you for the last few hours. You were supposed to be home a long time ago!"

"Dad, calm down. I'm alright. I just overslept."

"Blaine didn't wake you up?"

"He's still sleeping. We both overslept actually."

Burt made an annoyed sound in response to Kurt's statement, "And why did you two oversleep? I thought we had a talk about this stuff, kiddo. You know how I feel about-"

"_Dad_!" Kurt groaned. He sat down on the toilet seat and looked down at his socked feet, feeling his stomach churn in nervousness. "How many times do I have to tell you? Blaine and I aren't together nor would we ever do anything like that. I don't want to, nor does he. _Okay_? Don't you trust me?" His voice grew smaller and more hushed as he spoke. He felt so embarrassed.

"Don't flip out, Kurt. I'm not misjudging you. I was just worried. You were supposed to be here this morning and you never called. Then when I tried to call you, I couldn't get a hold of you… I was just scared, that's all."

Kurt nodded to himself as he stared around at Blaine's private bathroom. "I know, dad. I know. I should've called. I would've, but I forgot I had my phone on silent and I never heard anyone call or anything. I'm sorry."

"It's alright."

There was a bit of silence between the two Hummels as the men tried to figure out what to say next. Finally Burt broke the ice.

"Are you going to be leaving the campus soon?"

"Yeah, after I figure out what Blaine wants to do. I'm worried about him," the last statement came out in a whisper and Kurt could hear his dad gulp from the other line.

"Why? Is he ok?"

"He just had a bad night, that's all. I'd tell you more, but it's not my place to tell, you know? I'll just say that he had a nightmare last night… a bad one. It scared me half to death because it took me forever to get him out of it."

"Is he okay now?"

"Yeah, I think so." The teen resisted the urge to peek out into the bedroom to see if Blaine was alright. He stayed seated on the toilet seat and picked at the carpeted seat cover. "It just took a while to get back to sleep and everything."

"Well as long as he's alright," Burt stated. "Let me know how he is feeling and give me a call before you leave, alright?"

"Sure thing. Sorry again about all this, dad."

"It's no problem. I'm just glad you are safe."

Kurt smiled, "Yeah… I love you, dad."

"Love you too, son."

The two men bid their goodbyes and Kurt stood up, setting his phone on the sink. He relieved himself and then washed up before heading back out into Blaine's bedroom. A quick glance to the bed made his heart race when he saw how Blaine was sleeping.

_Oh my!_

Blankets had been kicked down to his knees. His t-shirt had ridden up his chest, showing off his muscular torso. He had a gorgeous set of abs, a six pack if you will; the exposed skin spackled with dark hair that stretched from his chest to farther and farther down to the waistband of his pants. His hips jutted out making a deep V that poked out from the edge of his pants; the amounts of muscle on that boy were killer.

Kurt stood in the doorway, his mouth dry, as well as his lips. He darted his tongue out and licked his chapped lips as he stared at the partially nude boy that laid before him.

_Wow, his body is perfect. I want to touch him._

Gulping, Kurt made his way across the room to where Blaine lay. He stood over the dark haired boy's body for a moment as his mind battled whether or not to climb back into bed with the other teen or to start getting ready to leave. He watched as Blaine breathed, his chest rising and falling with each breath.

_Stop staring, Kurt. It's creepy!_

He couldn't help himself. Just the sight of Blaine's bare abdomen made the countertenor's body tingle in ways that he never thought his body could respond. He stared, mouth gaping at the boy… until the soloist suddenly jerked upwards, his hands flying to his face.

"Whatimesit?"

Kurt jumped back, scared to death that he had been caught staring. He blinked a few times and watched as Blaine's hazel eyes tried to focus on him.

"Kurt, is that you?"

"Yeah," the younger boy replied as he tiptoed towards the bed. He stopped before the bed and stared down at the sleepy eyed tenor below him. "Something wrong?"

"We overslept, didn't we? Your dad is going to _kill_ me."

Kurt smiled, waving a hand in the air, "Psh, it's alright! I just called him and told him that we overslept and that I'd be leaving soon. Everything's fine, Blaine." He grinned when he saw the curly haired boy's face change from worried to assured.

"Oh. Great. I was afraid that I was going to have to plan my funeral!"

The two boys laughed. Blaine glanced up at Kurt and offered him a sincere smile that was twinged with the tiniest bit of exhaustion. It was probably the most adorable smile Kurt had ever seen.

"Thanks… for umm, staying with me last night, Kurt."

"I'd stay forever if you needed me," the words slipped out of his mouth before he could stop himself. A blush crept across his face. _Way to be forward, Hummel. Way to be._

Blaine's eyes widened for a moment as he watched Kurt drop his head to the ground. _Oh wow…_ The two boys stayed silent for a moment before Blaine yawned and stood up to stretch his body. He ran a hand over his abdomen and blanched (_oh wait, why is my shirt up so high?_). Slowly, he glanced up at Kurt and noticed the boy's blue eyes struggling to not look at his abs.

_Don't mention what Kurt just said… it'll make things awkward, especially since he's watching you. Compose yourself, Blaine._

"Do you need to take a shower or anything? You can borrow some of my clothes if you want…?" The lead Warbler tried to change the subject as quickly as possible; there were weird feelings pooling in his stomach now that he had saw Kurt staring at his body. He pushed the strange flutter in his stomach aside and glanced up at the taller boy with an earnest look. "I can, uh… I can-"

"I'd like that," Kurt whispered as he looked down at his feet. He could feel his face flushing with color as Blaine stared at him; he had been caught. _God, why must I be so obvious?_

Blaine smiled at the taller boy and waltzed over to his dresser, sifting through his clothes to see if he could find anything that might fit the other boy. He sorted through shirt after shirt and jeans after jeans until he found things that were just a little too tight on him or a little bit too long.

"Do you, umm… need boxers?"

Kurt flushed, immediately searching through his mind for something to say. _I can't tell him no because then he'll think I'm gross for not changing my underwear… but then if I say yes, then I'll have to wear a pair of his undergarments that he's been in and- oh God, I don't even believe in you, yet I think you are trying to smite me!_

Blaine watched in amusement as Kurt's mouth opened and closed. He felt kind of bad for the boy; the question he had asked was an awkward one, no doubt, and he was sure that the countertenor was currently freaking out over what to say. With a grin, Blaine dug into his underwear drawer and grabbed a packet of unopened briefs. He held the package up and waved it. "Umm, I haven't opened these yet. You can have a pair of these, if you'd like." He added with a wink, "You don't need to bring them back either."

Kurt turned bright red and he fidgeted on his feet. He knew Blaine could see how nervous he was and he hated that; he hated letting his emotions shine through but for some odd reason, Blaine was really good at extracting the emotional Kurt Hummel.

Sighing, the blue eyed boy nodded, "I can wear a pair of those."

The lead Warbler laughed and opened the package, taking a crisp pair of underwear from the package. He placed the garments on top of a pair of dark washed blue jeans and a fresh light blue button down long sleeved top. He thought the look would bring out Kurt's beautiful, expressive eyes.

_Whoa, wait… beautiful?_

As Blaine allowed his mind to fight with itself over the compliment it had given Kurt's eyes, the smaller teen leaned forward and grabbed up the clothes that were set out for him. He looked up at his crush as he grabbed the clothes and frowned at the perplexed look that had befallen the shorter boy.

"You alright, Blaine?" He reached a hand out and touched the other teen's arm, causing Blaine to jump backwards a bit at the contact.

"I'm fine," the tenor breathed as he looked up at his friend. His breath almost leapt from his chest as he watched those very blue eyes flash from light azure to a pale grey. "Oh _wow_."

"Wow what?"

Blaine tensed as he realized that he said his last thought out loud. He started to freak as he stared up at Kurt; he had been caught.

"I uh… I uh… you have bedhead."

Kurt paled considerably as his hands reached up and covered his hair. "Oh crap!" The clothes that had been nestled in his arms previously tumbled to the floor. "Why didn't you say anything earlier?"

The shorter boy laughed, "I like it like that. You should come to school like that every once in a while. I bet the Warblers would freak to see your hair like this!"

"I don't want them to see me like this. It's horrid!" Kurt screeched as he dove to the floor to gather up the fallen clothes; once they were back into his arms, he turned on his heel and booked it to the bathroom. "I'll be out in a bit."

His last statement came out rather breathy and quick; it was so sudden that Blaine immediately burst into hearty giggles when the boy disappeared behind the bathroom door.

"You _kill_ me, Kurt!" He chuckled.

The bathroom door opened up once more and Kurt poked his head through the crack. Blaine closed his mouth when he noticed the blue-grey eyes had turned a vicious shade of jade. Kurt was smirking evilly at him through the doorway.

"By the way, _Blaine_," he drew out the other boy's name slowly and his smirk grew more devilish, "you really shouldn't be asking me for workout tips when you are the one who has a body to die for." Then the light eyed boy gave a flirty wink before he disappeared behind the wooden door once more.

Blaine Anderson was very, very sure that Kurt had really indeed_ killed_ him.

* * *

><p><span>AN: AHHHHH YOU GUYS! I'm almost at 100 reviews! AHHHHH! I'm so excited! This is the most I've ever gotten for a story and it makes me feel sooooo good! Thank you so much! There's still another chapter to go, so be on the lookout for that one, also I have a semi-sequel to this that I'll be posting soon as well. There will be more flashbacks in that one (it'll get to the main reason why Blaine came to Dalton, I promise), so I hope you all read it when I post it as well. Anyways, please review! I'll love you if you do!


	16. Chapter 16

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Glee, nor am I associated with it or Ryan Murphy. I am just an out-of-college daydreamer who sometimes gets into these writing funks and ends up tossing out a story after letting the idea sit in my brain for a few days!

**Sometimes You Need More Than Courage**

By: xSlythStratasfaction (formerly known as LadyStrata821)

Pairing: Kurt x Blaine (friendship only)

WARNING: There's some language in here that may be offensive! Also, THIS IS THE LAST CHAPTER! :D

* * *

><p>Kurt had just downright flirted with him.<p>

_Flirted_.

As in: made a suggestive remark towards _him_.

He flirted with _Blaine_.

It was just too much for the lead Warbler to bear. The tenor stood in the bedroom, listening to the soft lull of the shower from inside. Kurt had just stepped into the stall minutes before and had just recently turned the water on; Blaine stood outside the bathroom door, his heart racing wildly as he repeated Kurt's words over and over in his mind.

"_You really shouldn't be asking me for workout tips when you are the one who has a body to die for…"_

The way the soprano's eyes flashed from a greyish blue to an oriental green made Blaine's heart thud frantically in his chest. The weird bubbly feelings he felt in his gut weren't helping matters either; everything felt so weird, so strange… so _awesome_.

Totally awesome.

It was something that Blaine hadn't really felt before. Well, that was slightly untrue: he had felt some sort of odd feelings like these when he first started to like Joshua.

But _this_, this was different.

Kurt was everything Joshua was not. Kurt was intelligent, well-spoken, thoughtful, caring, beautiful, and… _gay_. His preference towards boys was definitely a plus, but it definitely didn't make him, not one bit. It just helped out that he was gay because Blaine was gay too and that meant that something could happen between them and-

The curly haired boy shook his head as he tried to rattle the challenging thoughts about him and his friend from his brain. He did _not_ like Kurt that way; it was impossible. Sure, sometimes best friends fall in love, but Blaine had told himself that the feelings he felt for Kurt were role model-like, heroic feelings. The same could be said for Kurt's feelings for him. Once the knight in shining armor façade faded away, Kurt would pull the wool away from his eyes and see that Blaine really wasn't all that he made himself to be.

Blaine was just as broken, if not more so, than Kurt was.

He was a runner, a wimp. He ran from his problems and he didn't have the courage to stand up for what was right. Hell, he was even running now; he was trying to flee from the one thing his mind – and heart, for that matter – was fighting him over: _Kurt_.

Sighing, Blaine made his way across the room and fetched out some day clothes for himself. He pulled out a pair of khaki pants and a white button down long sleeved shirt. It was one of his go-to outfits; something that he always thought he looked decent in. Grabbing up his other clothing essentials, he sat down on the bed and waited for Kurt to exit the bathroom before he went in to shower.

The other boy couldn't take _that_ long to wash up, could he?

* * *

><p>Kurt leaned against the cool tiles of the shower walls and let out a deep breath.<p>

The water that was beating against his pale skin was ice cold and harsh; he could feel his body turning blue from the frigid assault, but he wasn't going to change the temperature of the water…

Not just yet.

In fact, he needed a cold shower, especially after that moment he just had in Blaine's bedroom just minutes before. Who in their right mind stares at their half-naked best friend while the guy is sleeping? Who does that?

Oh yeah… Kurt does.

Who makes lovey dovey eyes at their best friend, flirts with them by commenting on their hot bod, and then winks before fleeing to the bathroom? What kind of person does that?

Oh yeah, once again… Kurt does.

The countertenor moaned in angst as he lifted his face towards the icy spray. The water hit him like a McKinley High slushie: painful and blinding. He stepped back, sputtering a moment before he caught his breath.

Everything was cooled down now.

Kurt leaned down and changed the temperature of the water, fixing the once arctic spray to a warmer, more tolerable heat. He then helped himself to a bit of Blaine's body wash and shampoo. Bringing his cupped hands (filled with body wash) to his face, the teen breathed in the distinct scent of mountain freshness and spice. It smelled like Blaine.

But there was still something missing.

Something musky.

Something _Blaine_.

Smirking, Kurt lathered himself up with the body wash, careful not to use too much in certain areas, and then he began to work on his hair. Blaine had two different types of shampoo in his shower: one type for curly hair and another type for clarifying (probably from the insane amounts of hair gel the boy used). Seeing that the countertenor didn't have curly locks, he went for the clarifying blend and scrubbed his scalp clean.

After a few moments of pampering his body and freshening up, Kurt rinsed off. He stayed under the tepid mist for a few more minutes before he finally reached forward and shut off the water.

Imagine his surprise when he heard a few new voices coming from Blaine's bedroom…

* * *

><p>Just seconds after Blaine had sorted out his day outfit, there happened to be a knock at his door.<p>

"Junior member Blaine Anderson, this is your Warbler captain speaking! Let me in!"

Someone else chimed in, "Actually there are two Warbler captains out here, so be snappy!"

Blaine practically leapt off of his bed and rushed to the door, throwing open the entrance with gusto. He frowned when he saw both Wes and David standing before him, Cheshire grins spread across their faces.

Both boys were dressed casually, as it was the weekend and Dalton boarders didn't have to wear their uniforms after school hours. Wes was standing there in a pair of dark blue jeans and a Dalton soccer t-shirt; David was wearing a pair of flannel pajamas (in Dalton colors, of course) and a shirt that said _I Love My Girlfriend_. Both guys let their eyes travel up and down Blaine's body as they took in his unkempt appearance.

Wes laughed, "Whoa there, buddy! Not get any sleep last night?"

Blaine shook his head as he stepped back and let the two guys into the room. The seniors stepped into the room and looked around, taking in the sight of their friend's unmade bed and the deflating air mattress on the floor.

"What time did Kurt leave?" David questioned as he looked into Blaine's tired eyes.

The tenor opened his mouth to speak when he caught Wes' eyes staring at Kurt's cellphone that was still sitting out on his desk; Kurt's Dalton uniform was also laying nearby. It didn't take long for the Asian boy to put two and two together; his face lit up in amusement as soon as he realized the obvious.

"He's still here, isn't he?"

Blaine nodded, sitting down on his bed. He cocked his head to the side, trying to tell the other guys to look towards the closed bathroom door. David followed the hazel gaze towards the bathroom; meanwhile, Wes jerked his head along with Blaine's as he tried to understand what the other boy was getting at.

"He's trying to tell us that Kurt is in the bathroom, you idiot."

Wes shot his dark-skinned friend a nasty look before he turned back towards Blaine, a pointed smirk still speckled on his face. "So, what did you two get up to last night? Are you guys together yet because we're all-"

David shut the other guy up by slapping him on the shoulder.

Blaine rolled his eyes as Wes smacked David back, "Oh my God, Wes! How many times do I have to tell you? Kurt and I are _not_ together; not together as in, we are not a couple. We're just friends… that's all." He leaned back on his bed and sighed, continuing on, "There will _never_ be anything romantic going on between Kurt and I. Sorry, but it's the truth."

"Never?" Wes asked sadly.

"Never."

* * *

><p>Kurt stood in the bathroom, his body locked up and tense.<p>

He was being as quiet as a mouse at that moment. He could hear the three older Warblers discussing him and the relationship he had with Blaine. The senior councilmen seemed bent on finding out whether or not things had changed between the two juniors.

In all honesty, Kurt wanted to know this answer too.

He and Blaine had spent all night gushing to one another about each other's pasts and pains. They cried, they laughed, they held each other, they slept in the same bed together… they cuddled. _Cuddled!_

Guys don't do that!

Kurt wouldn't deny that his heart was racing at that very moment as he stood in the bathroom, listening through the paper thin walls. He had to know what Blaine's thoughts were on this – _relationship_? – friendship thing they had going on.

Kurt wanted more… oh God, he wanted this more than he ever wanted anything.

And then he heard it. Blaine's warm voice filled the air with a crushing blow.

"Never."

He needed to hear no more.

* * *

><p>Blaine ushered his two friends out of the room and quietly pulled the door closed behind him as the three stepped out into the hallway.<p>

David regarded him with a confused look, "Is there a reason why you shushed us out of the room?" Wes nodded in agreement to his classmate's statement.

"I just don't feel comfortable talking about Kurt when he's not in the room, okay? I mean, he's just in the bathroom and the walls in there aren't very thick at all. I just didn't want him to hear us," Blaine whispered as he leaned his body back against the wall.

Both seniors shared a look before Wes spoke, "Are you really telling us the truth about Kurt, Blaine? I mean, you're acting awfully suspicious for someone who wants to be _just friends _with the kid…"

The soloist huffed and ran his fingers through his ungelled curls as he closed his eyes, "I don't know what I'm doing, Wes. I have no idea."

He paused for a moment and then took a deep breath, "Kurt and I spent all last night talking: talking about him, talking about our lives, talking about my past-"

A soft gasp came from Wes. Blaine's past was a sacred, touchy subject – he didn't share it with just _anyone_.

"The things that happened last night really have me questioning what's going on between us. Like, I really don't know anymore, guys."

David smiled as he nudged Wes with his elbow. The Asian teen grinned back at his friend and the two of them leaned up against the wall like Blaine; both on either side of the shorter boy.

"So you think you like him then?"

"I've always liked him," Blaine mumbled lowly as he dropped his gaze to the ground. "I just don't know what I'm feeling now."

"Is it love, perhaps?"

"I… umm… I don't think so. I'm not really sure what it is," Blaine couldn't finish his sentence. He ended up having to swallow a nervous lump that filled his throat. His emotions were going haywire.

"Well, maybe you need some time to think about your feelings… you know what I mean?" Wes started, "You may have some feelings for Kurt, but now they've probably grown stronger and you're scared. I know you, Blaine. You are a timid guy with a big heart; you're just scared, that's all."

David chimed in, "You've just got to give yourself time to sort this out. Kurt will wait; he's waited this long, hasn't he?"

Blaine nodded.

Then a whole sense of dread filled his belly and he looked up at his friends with wild golden eyes, "But what if I've kept him waiting too long?"

The darker skinned boy stepped forward, placing both of his hands on Blaine's shoulders. "Get a hold of yourself, Anderson! Kurt genuinely cares about you and you him. Even though your place of caring comes from a more mentor-ish area, Kurt adores you. We can all see it and we have for a while. I really don't think Kurt is going to change his tune so quickly."

Wes nodded, "I think that he's just waiting for you to open your eyes and make a move. He's already told you his feelings. I mean, damn! He thought you were going to sing to him on Valentine's – that's a big clue right there, man!" He swallowed before continuing, "So while you may not feel enormous lovey dovey feelings for him, you definitely feel something. We all know it, we can all see it, and we can all feel it. It's there, Blaine. You just have to notice it."

Blaine frowned as he removed David's grip from his shoulders, "I don't want to mess this up, you guys. I care very deeply for Kurt. Sometimes I wonder if it's more than I think it is, if it's more a romantic way. But the more I think about it, I think I may just feel some things for him because he's gay and he understands me, you know what I mean?"

"As stupid as you sound right now, I guess I can understand this madness," Wes sighed as he glanced down the hall towards some oncoming Warblers. He gave them a gentle nod as they passed and then he turned back to his friend. "Take your time. Sort out your feelings. Maybe talk to Kurt once you figure everything out. Things will be fine."

"You sure?" The tenor asked quietly.

Both senior boys nodded and gave their short friend brotherly slaps on the arms before they turned to leave. David shot back one last smile as they walked down the hall, "You won't ruin this. I promise. You've got this, Blaine. You've got this!"

Blaine smiled sheepishly and opened the door to his bedroom.

_I've got this!_

* * *

><p>Kurt was standing in front of his body length mirror when Blaine came back into the room.<p>

Instantly, his stomach flipped as the sense of dread filtered into his stomach. Had Kurt heard their conversation out in the hallway? He glanced up at the boy and was relieved to see a ghost of a smile flash upon Kurt's nymph-like features.

"Those clothes look fantastic on you."

The countertenor blushed as he finished buttoning up the light blue shirt he was wearing. Blaine came up behind him and stared at the boy's reflection.

"The colors really bring out your eyes. You look great."

A frown then flashed upon the taller boy's features and Blaine almost jumped back. He raised an eyebrow confusedly as he watched Kurt shy away from the mirror, running his hands over the shirt to smooth it.

_Did I say something wrong?_

"Everything alright? I didn't overstep any boundaries, did I?"

Kurt let his eyes roam towards Blaine's face. _Of course, you overstepped the boundaries, you oaf! You don't want a relationship with me, but you want to flirt with me? Who do you think you are?_ Thoughts ran rampant through his mind, but he didn't voice any of them. He just stayed silent for a moment before he finally spoke.

"No, it's alright. I'm just tired."

"Did you want to stay another night?" Blaine asked as he gathered up his clothes from off the bed. "We can just tell your dad that you aren't feeling well and-"

"No, that's okay. I'll just go home tonight. I'm not that tired. I can make the drive home easily." Kurt lied; he really wasn't tired. Okay, well, maybe not physically… but emotionally he was. His heart was tired; oh was it tired! The damn thing was exhausted.

And everything hurt.

Blaine offered him a sympathetic smile as he walked across the room towards the bathroom. "Do you mind if I take a quick shower? I promise I won't be long. I just feel really gross and I could totally use a-"

Kurt waved his hand at the older boy, "I don't mind. Go on."

With a grin, Blaine disappeared into the bathroom, leaving Kurt sitting behind on his bed. The countertenor laid down, his head laying against Blaine's pillow. He breathed in the woodsy, spicy scent and felt tears spring to his eyes.

Blaine didn't want him. Nothing had changed. Nothing would ever change.

He didn't know what to do.

* * *

><p>Blaine finished up in the shower in record time.<p>

He hopped out, dried off, and dressed himself quickly before he stumbled out of the steamy bathroom and into his cool bedroom. His eyes softened immediately when they landed on a form curled up on his bed.

Kurt had fallen asleep again.

The chestnut haired teen was curled up in Blaine's blankets; his hands fisted up into Blaine's pillow. It was cute to see him nestled up all comfy like that and as much as it pained Blaine to wake the boy, it had to be done.

"Kurt? …Kurt?"

The teen groaned and opened his blue eyes, blinking the sleep out of them as slowly as possible. He rolled onto his back and stared up at the ceiling before he locked his blurred vision onto Blaine.

"I didn't sleep for long, did I?"

"Nope, you just dozed off for about twenty or so minutes. I haven't been gone for long," Blaine explained as he helped Kurt off of the bed. He pushed himself not to question the reason why Kurt pulled away from him after he helped him onto the floor. It seemed off, but he didn't want to say anything. Instead, he reached a hand up and brushed a few stray strands of Kurt's hair out of his eyes.

"There. Much better," he whispered as he locked eyes with the younger teen.

Kurt's breath hitched and he stepped back, turning on his heel. "I have to get my stuff ready. I should be leaving soon. I have a lot to do this weekend."

"Yeah, me too."

"Are you trying out for a solo for regionals?" Kurt questioned as he packed away his uniform and phone in to his messenger bag. He also stuffed in his emergency moisturizer, hairspray, and toothbrush/toothpaste combo into the bag before sealing it.

"Of course I'm trying out for a solo! Are you kidding?" Blaine chuckled as he leaned up against the desk. He glanced down at Kurt and noticed how fidgety the countertenor had gotten. "Hey, are you sure you're alright?"

"Just peachy," Kurt hissed as he stood up and looked around the room for anything else he could've missed. Blaine stiffened from beside him.

"Did I do something wrong?"

Kurt said nothing. He shuffled on his feet for a moment before he looked back up at Blaine; his glasz eyes had this weird look to them, as if they were pure glass.

Obviously the boy had thrown a mask up. Something was wrong.

"Can you walk me to my car?" Kurt whispered and Blaine nodded, taking another sweep of the room with his eyes until he was completely sure that his friend had gathered all of his things.

"Sure. Are you ready to leave now?"

There was silence for a moment as Kurt's focus was on something sitting on the desk: it was a photo of Kurt and Blaine at Christmastime. Both boys were sitting on a couch in the Warblers' rehearsal hall; their faces lit up with Christmas spirit and there were gifts in their hands. It must've been taken during the annual Warbler Christmas party; Kurt remembered how he and Blaine had sang _Baby It's Cold Outside_ to the other Warblers before the party ended (Blaine wanted the other guys to hear how much better Kurt sounded than the girl he was supposed to sing with at Kings Island). Overall, it was an awesome night… and Blaine had a picture to document it all.

_Why must I be in love with him?_ Kurt's mind moaned as he tore his gaze away from the picture.

Blaine was standing beside him, eyes also on the tiny photograph that sat on his desk. He smiled when he saw Kurt looking at it, "I still stand by the fact that you sang that song a million times better than that Sarah girl did. She was pitchy… and you… you were perfect."

Just the way the words flowed out of his mouth made Kurt's heart clench up in pain. He bit his lip quickly and painfully willed the tears that burned behind his eyes to not show up. He wasn't going to cry, not now, not like this. He took a couple of quiet breaths and slowed his breathing before the throbbing in his chest and head faded away.

_Why does he keep on doing this to me?_

The countertenor turned around and looked at the door, "I believe I should be going soon. It's after five in the evening and I need to get home before it gets too dark outside."

Blaine glanced out of the window and frowned at the darkening sky; it was still raining, though the thunderstorm had let up hours ago. With a sprint, the boy dashed across the room and opened up his armoire, grabbing out an umbrella.

"Alright, if you're ready to go, then I am!" He grabbed up his room keys from the desk and followed behind Kurt as the younger boy exited his dorm room.

* * *

><p>"It's really pouring down the rain!"<p>

Blaine yelled this as he opened his umbrella and stepped out underneath the awning of the Dalton Academy dormitories. He waited until Kurt was completely underneath the large umbrella before they started walking towards Kurt's SUV. Neither boy spoke until they arrived at the door.

"So umm, Kurt? Uh, thanks for staying with me last night… and for… umm, everything."

Kurt flashed a small smile back to the shorter boy as he climbed into his car and closed the door. He rolled down the window and looked back up at his friend, who was currently leaning against the car with his umbrella high up in the air. "It was no problem, Blaine. I'm glad you and I had the chance to talk."

No other words were said after that. Kurt sat in his car, randomly typing out a text to his father to let him know he was leaving. Blaine still leaned up against the car, feeling the wetness of the vehicle seep through his clothing a little bit, but he didn't care; he was enjoying this time with Kurt more than anything, even if the other boy was being unusually quiet.

Finally, after several minutes of silence, Blaine felt himself grow a little weary of why Kurt hadn't said anything. The boy hadn't even offered a goodbye; he just sat in his car staring at the steering wheel, his blue eyes locked on the emblem blazed into the dashboard.

The tenor cleared his throat, "Did I do something wrong, Kurt? Are you mad at me?"

The countertenor blinked a few times, but did not turn his head to meet Blaine's eyes. Instead, he started to fidget with the radio, blatantly ignoring his crush's question.

"Kurt, please? Can we just talk about this?"

More silence came through. The taller teen was not about to answer any questions that Blaine had and it was slowly driving the lead Warbler insane. Finally, after Kurt had found a particularly interesting radio station and had turned the radio up to tune out the noise, Blaine grew annoyed and reached into the car, shutting the radio off instantly.

"What did I do? It's obvious that I've made you angry, Kurt. What happened?"

The newer Warbler closed his eyes, leaning his head back against the headrest. Blaine could easily see the worry lines etching into his face as the boy's emotional façade started to crumble. He wanted to reach into the car and pull the smaller boy into him… but he didn't.

"Is this about last night?" The hazel eyed boy asked before saying, "I knew I shouldn't have told you about all that stuff. I never wanted it to affect you like this, Kurt! I just-"

Kurt interrupted quickly, "It's not that, Blaine. It's us."

"Us?"

"Where do we stand, Blaine? What are we? Are we friends? Are we more than that? What? I don't understand us," the blue eyed boy's voice was slightly cold. Blaine frowned at the statement.

"We're friends, Kurt! Of course!"

_Of course, we're just friends. Duh! And that's all you'll ever be._ Kurt's mind was bitter; his heart fared the same.

The blue eyed teen didn't want to press the issue any longer. He looked back up into Blaine's honey eyes and felt his heart drop at the look his friend was giving him; it was a look he had seen many times before. He looked so chipper and so happy… so _friendly_.

There was nothing else behind those hazel eyes. Not love, not lust, not want, not desire… nothing that pertained to them changing from anything but friends… and it broke Kurt's heart.

Immediately, he let his walls come up; the same walls that he used around others when they hurt him. As of late, he didn't bother to use those walls around Blaine… but now, they needed to come out. He looked down at his stereo and nodded to his friend, hearing the other boy chuckle.

"Why? Are you scared of us not being friends anymore?" The tenor grinned and placed his free hand on one of Kurt's steering wheel clutching fists. "We'll always be the best of friends, you know that!"

Kurt nodded, part of him feeling foolish, especially with Blaine's hand touching his own. However, the other feelings that Blaine's touch brought along weren't ones that people should feel for their friends. They were feelings one would share towards a lover… someone they really cared about.

_God, how he wanted to cry!_

"Yeah, we're the best of friends," Kurt sullenly repeated as he watched the numbers of the car's clock tick away. He stayed lost in his thoughts until Blaine brought him back to speed, asking him about his audition for a regionals solo.

"I'm not sure of what to sing, but I'm definitely trying out. Someone else other than you deserves a chance in the spotlight," he breathed, trying not to sound angry or jealous.

From beside him, Blaine laughed and leaned closer into the open window. "I'm sure you'll do amazing, Kurt. You have a fantastic voice and I'm sure you'll get a solo! In fact, I'd bet on it!"

Kurt rolled his eyes and shuddered, "Yeah right, Anderson! They'll pick you and you'll rock it, as usual. My voice is better for ukuleles and background in this group."

"Shut up," Blaine whispered as he playfully shoved his friend's shoulder, "You have an amazing voice that people would _kill_ for, myself included. You'll get a solo and you'll be the one rocking that stage and wowing the crowds. I promise you that."

The taller boy blanched, "I'm just… scared. I can't get solos for anything in any group I'm in. Everyone talks about how _amazing_ my voice is, how different I am… and yet no one wants me. I just don't get it. I mean, why even bother?"

Blaine raised an eyebrow, obviously somewhat confused by the comment his friend had just made - as if there were some strange underlying message behind it all - but he said nothing of it. Instead he just muttered, "You've gotta have courage, Kurt. _Courage_." He squeezed the hand he held in his grip and heard a soft, shaky breath be released from the light eyed boy's mouth.

"Kurt?"

The glasz eyes turned on him then, the orbs mixing wildly with colors. Blaine could hardly believe his own eyes as he watched his friend's eye color change so vividly. There were hundreds of emotions flashing through the boy's eyes at that moment; the mask that he had so carefully tried to keep up had broken and he was currently letting Blaine see everything. His soul was pouring itself out to him.

And Blaine was struggling not to take it.

"Sometimes you need more than courage, Blaine."

When he spoke those words, the tenor felt his heart drop. The watery gaze he was receiving from his best friend was breaking his heart; he wanted to reach in and pull Kurt close, but his mind felt conflicted. Previous arguments of whether or not he saw Kurt differently filled his mind and he closed his eyes, praying that his conscience would finally settle on something – _kiss him, be a mentor, kiss him, be a mentor, kiss him_ - and ease his soul.

It settled on mentorship.

_Damnit._

Kurt looked away then, biting his lip so hard that the lower part turned cherry red. He let a few sniffles escape from his breaking composure before he released his worried lip from his teeth; he then turned to offer Blaine a sad smile.

"Good luck on your audition, Blaine. I'll see you on Monday."

He shrugged the grasp of Blaine's hand from his own and waited for the shorter boy to step back away from his car. Once the tenor had moved safely out of the way, Kurt put the car into drive and started off towards Lima, leaving Blaine standing there in the rain.

The lead soloist stood underneath his umbrella, the item blowing wildly in the wind and barely covering him from getting drenched with rain.

_What did I just do? Did I turn him down? What…?_

He watched as Kurt's large SUV made that final turn out of Dalton's school grounds before it disappeared from his sight. Once the car was gone, Blaine panicked. His heart raced at a thousand beats per minute and it jumped up into his throat, causing him to feel horribly sick.

_What had he just done?_

Blaine could still see Kurt's watery eyes staring back at him and he could feel the other boy's small hand grow tense underneath his own. Kurt had been gone from Dalton for minutes now and still Blaine could feel his presence all around him… and he missed him. Oh God, he missed him.

Biting his lip, Blaine turned on his heel and sulked back towards his dormitory. He had failed Kurt; he had fucked up the most opportune moment in history to be with the most perfect boy he had known and he had ruined it.

He was falling for Kurt… it may not have been something that he was expecting, but it was there. It may not have been as strong as Kurt's feelings towards him were, but it was there. He cared very deeply for the boy. He cared so much that it hurt.

He hurt.

He hurt himself.

He hurt Kurt.

And now there was nothing more he could do except pray that Kurt would wait for him, wait for him to grow up, grow some balls, grow something. Wait for him to realize his true feelings, to get some strength, to get some bravery, to get some courage…

Just to wait.

But the boy had no idea how long Kurt would wait, if he could even bother to do so anymore. Blaine had spent his sweet old time figuring out his feelings for weeks now and there was only so much a person could take before they broke.

Blaine feared today was the day that Kurt had finally broken.

As he walked back into the halls and towards his dorm room, the dark haired teen could feel his stomach lock up into knots. What if he had royally fucked up this time? What would happen between him and Kurt? Would they still be friends? What was going to happen?

The teen stood in front of his room, his eyes filling with tears as he unlocked the door and stumbled inside. He had just let Kurt go, let him go off believing that the night before meant absolutely nothing to him… and it wasn't that: it meant _everything_.

If there was anything Blaine needed more in this world, it was courage… and perhaps, something even more so. Sobbing, the tenor climbed into his bed and wrapped himself up in his comforter. It still smelled of Kurt: a mix of his cologne and his face cream. Tears streamed down Blaine's cheeks as he breathed in the scent.

Kurt's words repeated over and over in his head.

_Sometimes you need more than courage._

_Sometimes you need more than courage, Blaine._

_More than courage._

"I need all that I can get," he whispered as he cried himself to sleep. Hopefully things would get better soon; Kurt and Blaine could go back to being best friends. Maybe they could end all the weirdness around them and maybe even one day, Blaine could finish telling Kurt the rest of his complicated past.

Maybe one day… _maybe_.

* * *

><p><span>AN: HOLY CRAP! Is this the end? SAY WHAT? I know, I know, I know – you're all probably like WTF Mel? What is this? You're ending it HERE?

And the truth is: yes I am ending it right here. This fic is over, done, no more!

Why is it stopping here? Because there's going to be another fic that goes right along with this one, one that takes place during _Original Song_ (where our lovely Klaine officially gets together). That fic will later on spawn into the rest of Blaine's past as a continuation of this fic. I wanted to put them all together, but I was dead set on this one ending before Kurt and Blaine officially became a couple and I just couldn't finish this with them getting together… as much as you all wanted it to happen. Thus, I extend my apologies to those of you who were waiting for an epic make-out scene or something. It will come, don't you worry… just not in this fic. In the sequel/continuation: yes. In this one: no.

I will be posting the next fic in this installment soon, so be on the lookout for that one! If you liked this one enough to continue on to the next one, I thank you from the bottom of my heart! I appreciate all of you who read this fic and dealt with some crappy chapters and what not. I also very much appreciate my lovely reviewers who helped me get to 100+ REVIEWS! YAYYYYYYY! If it weren't for you guys, I probably wouldn't have kept on with this fic, but because you guys were kind enough to leave me comments, I kept on and will continue to do so!

Anyways, thank you all again for sticking with this. I promise you that Kurt and Blaine will finally get their sexy klisses on in my next fic to make up for the lack of kisses in this one! Thanks for reading and please review! Love ya!


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